


Pit Of Vipers

by Develation



Series: The Contrarian [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Amber is a Sweetheart, Blood and Violence, Depression, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eye Trauma, F/F, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gang Violence, Gender-Neutral Frisk (Undertale), Gun Violence, Humor, Injury, Insomnia, Monster Dust (Undertale), Plot, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prejudice Against Monsters (Undertale), Racism, Reader has high LV, Reader-Insert, Scars, Slow Burn, The Void, Timeline Shenanigans, Toriel is a mom, Tsundere Chara (Undertale), Tsundere Flowey (Undertale), Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Undertale Saves and Resets, mentioned rape, reader has magic, reader is a badass, some gore, some insanity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-01-23 11:34:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21319525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Develation/pseuds/Develation
Summary: You didn't ask for this.You didn't ask for your life to be taken away from you.You didn't ask for a world of kill or be killed.You didn't ask for time to repeat it'self.Yet here you are, fighting in an uphill battle that seems to never end. Killing to protect the ones you love. Falling into an ocean of blood that tries to swallow you whole.Yet even then, you still fight back. Fighting against the waves that latch and pull like Vipers, sinking their fangs into your back and wrapping their coils around your flesh.But you refuse.You refuse to fall into a Pit Of Vipers.(Cover Added!)x2ACT 1: Spitting VenomACT 2: Forces of NatureACT 3: Spreading Poison(Back at it again! Sorry for leaving you guys hanging!)
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Flowey (Undertale) & Reader, Reader & Amber, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Series: The Contrarian [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536937
Comments: 50
Kudos: 73





	1. Scarlet Coils

**Author's Note:**

> Sup peeps! This is just one of the many fanfics I've been planning to write for a long time. I was planning to finish CreationTale before I started on this one but I got a HUGE writer's block and I didn't just want to drop out on you guys completely.
> 
> I just want to state that this fic is in no way shape or form related to CreationTale! It is going to be a completely separate stand-alone book. So besides maybe some shorts, this book will not have any sequels or anything like that.
> 
> This is planned to be a Sans/Reader but be warned, this is my first time writing anything like this, but I will try my best! I mean, 'Despite Everything, It's Still You' is CrusnikRoxas' first fic and look how fast that thing blew up xD.  
Luv you girl <3!
> 
> Moving on, I hope you enjoy my take on a Sans/Reader and get some good thrills out of the violence. Cause lets be real with ourselves, we all love to see our Readers beat the snot outta people :3.
> 
> Inspired by:  
'Have Pity' ~ fivecupsaday (https://archiveofourown.org/works/19289548/chapters/45877765)  
'Glitch' ~ Nythtak (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5868163/chapters/13525594)
> 
> Make sure to go check their works out too! ^^

* * *

_ It’s impossible to navigate around _

_ It’s inevitable that you’ll fall in _

_ It’s improbable I’ll ever come back down _

_ I fell in and now I think I might drown _

* * *

* * *

There were three of them.

...and there was one of you.

You have done this before, even if the situation was drastically different in almost every single way.

Nine years ago, you have done this nine years ago.

You can do it again.

You have to do it again.

A laugh rang out in the crisp night air.

T he leader, you assume, stepped forward, the two other men laughing with him. You took a step back out of sheer instinct. He noticed,

and smiled.

“You scared, sweetheart?” He asked—though, undoubtedly, he already knew the answer.

You didn’t respond, too focused on surviving the encounter. On finding a way to escape the demons of your past that always seem to catch up to you.

There was a flash, and your heightened, adrenaline-filled senses picked up on the change instantaneously.

Your stomach dropped.

Light reflected off the leader's knife. You could almost see your own terrified reflection on the shiny piece of metal that is minutes, no, seconds away from being covered in your own blood.

The two men behind him pulled out their knives as well, all of them starting to creep closer.

“Well…”

Your muscles tensed.

“You should be.”

They lunged straight for you, arms raised and knives glistening, prepared to tear into your already scarred flesh. Your brain immediately jumped into action and all conscious thought went out the window.

_ Flight. _

No… there was nothing but a brick wall behind you. The dark alleyway kept you in a box with the only way out being past your attackers.

No escape.

Nowhere to run.

Trapped.

_ Fight. _

And so you lunged to meet them, hands balled into tight fists, pupils shrinking, teeth clenching, heart beating in your chest.

You met the leader with a direct punch to the face. Felt his nose break on contact. The horrible crunching noise echoing in your brain, your consciousness’ way of telling you what you're doing. Its last plea to get you to stop, to see reason. You swore to yourself that you would never hurt anyone else after that day.  _ Stop! _

The leader yelped in pain and staggered back. Man Number Two jumped at you with his knife, in turn. You were too focused on your inner turmoil, so your dodge was just a step off, and the blade slashed your arm.

Instincts immediately took over, and you lost yourself in the battle of survival. Yet you couldn’t seem to find a reason to fight it off.

As much as you hated yourself for what happened those years ago, you refused to die. 

Not here, not now.

Man Number Three got a punch in the back of your head, and the world stuttered for a moment as you tried to regain your senses.

Too slow.

In less than a second there was an arm around your throat, and your body was slammed into the side of the alleyway. The back of your head bounced off the hard, brick wall, causing even more throbbing as black spots clouded your vision.

The adrenaline in your system fought off the pain,—quite quickly, to your surprise,—and the black spots faded to reveal the image of Man Number Two smiling up at you as he lifted you off the ground and held you to the wall.

Yeah… you’d much rather pass out right now.

You felt his gropey hands grip your throat, the pressure slowly increasing by the millisecond. Bringing your hands up to claw at his, you struggled to push him off you. The leader chuckled at your attempts.

He wiped the blood off his face, scowling at the amount of it he found on his hands, then met your eyes. You smirked down at him, pleased at the amount of damage you had done to his face. The satisfaction only lasted for a moment, though—once again, Man Number Two squeezed harder, and you choked for what seemed like an eternity before he eased the pressure.

“Looks like I overestimated you.” The leader sneered.

“When I heard what you’d done to William’s brother and those men, I thought they were insane. Turns out I was right, they’re nothing but a bunch of delusional shitheads. Sure, that was a decent punch, but...”

**you’re nothing** .”

Not paying any attention to his little spiel— _ seriously, who even monologues? _ —you started searching for a way out of his grip, trying your best not to make it obvious that you were looking for weak points. Your arm muscles tensed. You were about to go for a throat punch, when you realized…   
  


_ He was lifting you up against the wall. _ _   
_ _   
_

Being as subtle as you could, your eyes trailed down from his face and reached a more... sensitive area. You almost laughed at yourself and Man Number Two for not realizing this sooner.

_ Your knees were perfectly leveled to his crouch. _

Not wasting a second, you thrust your leg into his groin. The man screamed— _ understandable, but satisfying nonetheless— _ and dropped you on your unsteady legs.

You bolted out of the alleyway before the other two men could process what had happened.

Your shoes pounded against the cracked sidewalk. You could hear curses and 3 other sets of footsteps behind you.

Through the fuzz of adrenaline and a pounding headache that made it feel like your skull was about to shatter, you cursed yourself for taking a walk at 1 am in the morning. You cursed your nightmares and insomnia for making it seem like a walk was a great idea to clear your head. Yet most of all, you cursed yourself for specializing in Cross Country instead of Track.

One would say that there isn’t a difference between the two of them—they are both a running sport, how are they different? The answer is…

** _Very._ ** ** _   
  
_ **

Dedicating your early years to Cross Country has built your body for endurance running. Your oxygen intake, muscle strength, everything was built and developed for being able to run long distances at a steady pace, without stopping. 

But this wasn’t that sort of running.   
  


You were in a dead sprint for your life, and not being able to gain speed fast enough to outrun your pursuers was going to get you killed.

Yes, you could feel yourself building speed… but not fast enough. The footsteps were getting louder. You were running out of time.

Hastily looking for an escape, you caught a glimpse of blood flying off your arm, splattering onto the sidewalk.   
  


_ Leaving a trail for your assaulters to follow… _

You couldn’t hide, but you could make them give up.

Looking down a nearby alleyway, you could see the shine of a metal ladder at the top of a small building wall that lined it.

_ A fire escape. _

_ Oh thank god. _ _   
_ _   
_

You immediately turned into the alleyway, only hearing one pair of footsteps. They were loud and close, covering all other sounds around you.

One of them was right behind you.

Pushing with all your might against the pain and fatigue that plagued your body, you sprinted for the ladder—

—only to feel a hand latch onto your hair from behind.

Yelping in pain, you felt yourself being pulled back—away from salvation, to your assaulter’s chest.

_ No! You won’t give in! You won’t die here! You refuse! _ _   
_ _   
_

You kicked your foot back into the man’s shin. He grunted, dropping your hair, and took a slash at you with his knife.

This time you were better prepared, jumping back to watch the blade cut through the air so fast you could hear the  _ swish.  _

Still recovering from the dodge, Man Number Three launched on top of you, knocking you onto the ground, him straddling you from above. Instantaneously, the knife was aimed for your chest, and you caught his hands around the handle to keep it from piercing your skin.

Man Number Three leaned over you, putting all his weight against your arms. The knife slowly inched closer to your beating heart.

You needed to find a way out of this. Fast. It won’t matter if you can hold out against him, if the other two caught up you were screwed.

Making eye contact, you both gritted your teeth, refusing to give up.

** _A battle between predator and prey._ **

An idea sparked in your head. You started to push the momentum of the force being applied on the knife to face the blade towards your legs. 

That way the blade would be facing away from you, hoping that you would be able to slide out from under him without getting stabbed. 

It all happened so fast. The moment you got the blade remotely facing the way you planned, the momentum from both of your grips swung it up straight into Man Number Three’s chest.

…

There was a moment of silence.

You scrambled out from under him, watching the blood spill from his chest and onto the ground as he choked, blood dripping out of his mouth, eyes glazing over.

....

...wha....

You… 

What did you do?

** _WHAT DID YOU DO?!?_ **

In your internal panic, you hadn’t noticed the other two men catch up.

And they were now running at you with even more murderous looks than before.

You turned and ran for the fire escape. It was just a simple metal ladder with no metal guards, but you hardly cared about that right now.

Making it to the ladder, you climbed with all your might, the ladder swinging with your weight, the blood roaring in your ears and the two goons at the bottom toppling over themselves to follow you.

You climbed and climbed. You just needed to get to the top, once you're there you’d have the higher ground. 

You’d have a massive advantage.

Almost to the top, you could hear both men—now on the ladder—climbing up after you.

The ladder shifted violently, and something squeaked. You were close enough now to see that the 2 screws that held the top of the ladder up were both very loose.

One of them wasn’t even connected to the brick of the building.

Before you could act on your discovery, one of the men pulled himself up on the ladder, violently causing the loose screw to come off the brick and, before you knew it,

you were falling backwards.

The men below you cried out in alarm.

Now at the top, you launched yourself over the ladder and at the edge of the building fingers hooking on the edge before slipping at the poor grip.

You fall for a short distance, landing back first on the top of a dumpster—knocking the wind out of your lungs, rolling off the edge and onto the asphalt with a thud.

With little resistance, you gave in to the black spots invading your vision.

  
  


* * *

You didn’t know how long you were out, but the world was covered in a blanket of numbness that helped you decide that you didn’t care.

Pushing yourself up, you noticed that the blood leaking from your arm had slowed, but your head felt like it was being drilled into on all sides.

The drive to get somewhere safe pushed you forward.

Your eyes traveled to the fallen ladder and the two goons who tried to murder you smashed under it.

The impact of the fall hadn’t killed them.

But the bars of metal that slammed them into the concrete had.

You could see the blood that leaked from the leader's head, smashed between the concrete and metal. You could see the indent on Man Number Two’s chest where one of the metal bars fell on his ribs.

Despite seeing all of this, you still felt numb.

Numb as you walked past Man Number Three’s body.

Numb as you walked out of the dark alleyway and into the night.

Numb as you passed street lights and buildings.

Numb as you walked through the park that was so close to home.

Numb as you…

As you…

It was like a cord snapped.

You screamed.

You sobbed into the night, howling in pain and sorrow and regret.

You had done it again.

  
  


You had killed again.

  
  


You have climbed so far since what had happened back then.

  
  


But now you were falling.

  
  


Falling so deep that it felt as if you were drowning in your own choked sobs.

  
  


But at the same time, you were rising. 

  
  


Rising to a high you feared you’d never come back down from.

  
  
  


**Chara**

**LV: 6**

  
  


**EXP: 873**

  
  


**HP: 2.5/4**

  
  


**AT: 645**

  
  


**DF: 470**

**   
  
**

*** Is ashamed of what she has become.**

*** Is scared of the sudden power she feels.**

*** Your LV and EXP have increased!** **   
  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouch... that's gonna hurt in the morning.
> 
> Don't really have an upload schedule right now so you'll get a chapter when you get a chapter xD.
> 
> Seeya!
> 
> (Song)'Pit Of Vipers' ~ Simon Curtis


	2. Midnight Scales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *3 months later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys sorry for the delay! This was going to be updated on Saturday night buttttt I remembered Glitchtale S2 EP #7 would be out today! So I decided to give you guys something to help cheer you up after that mess xD( I also just woke up and its like 3:09 pm lol).
> 
> Anyways, I wanted to ask you'll something, would you prefer long chapters like this but long update intervals or shorter chapters with updates coming out every week? Chapter 1 was 10 pages long and this one is 13. I personally like writing long chapters but if you guys want shorter ones then thats fine too.
> 
> Leave your opinions down in the comments and enjoy the chapter!

Blood dripped off your hands as you stood in the back of an alleyway. The blood on your face had left a trail of red over your left eye, causing it to close and only leave your right one on the lookout for trouble.

Luckily, the  _ trouble _ had been taken care of.

Well… sort of.

“Get away from me, you bitch!”

Oh boy…

Looking over the poor boy’s form, you winced. You had made sure not to hit him too much in the fight, but the kid was persistent. To get him off your tail, you had punched him in the gut hard enough to get him out of the fight for the most part.   
  


Thank god. The poor kid looked no older than 17.   
  


“Kid, listen—"   
  


“Shut up! Just shut up, you  _ monster! _ ”   
  


Your eye twitched, causing the gash marks on the left side of your face to flair up in pain. You almost yelped, but you kept it down. This was not a time to show weakness.

The kid was still shaking, staring at you like this was  _ your  _ fault… but it wasn’t.   
  


You didn’t want to kill them, but what other choice did you have?

Sighing, you weighed your options on what to say.   
  


“I never wanted this, kid.”

He flinched, and then scowled, looking at you, as if to say ‘ _ How dare you pull that card! _ ’

“Bullshit—!”   


  
“Did you want to join a gang?”

He looked taken aback, averting his eyes with a heavy look of shame crossing his features. Hands clenching and unclenching, seemingly trying to find something—a valid argument against your question.   
  


It was no use—not like you were going to wait for him to answer, anyway.   
  


“You never wanted this, right? To have to steal, fight, and  _ kill _ to support yourself. To feed off others' suffering and misfortune in order to pay your bills, or whatever you might be struggling with.”

Yet here you are, stuck doing something despicable to survive.”   


  
The boy seemed to have no words.   
  


You dropped the knife in your hands and turned away from him, walking past the bodies of his “fellow” gang members.   
  


Some were unconscious… and some were dead.   
  


Despite that, you couldn’t find it in you to care anymore.   
  


Reaching the exit of the alleyway, you turned your head slightly back towards the boy. You opened your mouth, and chose your next words carefully.   
  


“If I were you, bud, I’d turn back now. Hah, look where it’s gotten me. You don’t really want this life, kid, trust me.”

And with that, you picked up your bags were they had been dropped at the beginning of the alley and resumed your walk back home.   
  
  


* * *

  
  
**Chara**

  
  


**LV: 11** **   
** **   
** **EXP: 1365** **   
** **   
** **HP: 3.5/4** **   
** **   
** **AT: 750** **   
** **   
** **DF: 500** **   
** **   
** **   
**   
  
  


* * *

Opening the door to your house and stepping inside, you finally allowed yourself to relax. It amazed you how a simple trip to Walgreens could explode into a life or death knife/fist fight.   
  


Your house was cozy—still larger than it needs to be for two people, though. When your family had…  _ passed _ , it seemed dumb to move since it was already paid off.   
  


The living room was a decent size, a brown couch with 2 more chairs and a table in the center of it all. The TV and TV stand were against the opposite wall, along with a bookcase for Amber’s novels.   
  


Wait….   
  


_ SHIT, AMBER!! _

How could you have forgotten about her?! She's the whole reason you went to the store,  _ oh for the love of-! _ _   
_ _   
_

Dashing into the kitchen you set the bath of goods on the counter, only then, realizing the amount of blood that was dropping off your face.   
  


_ Oh hell… she was going to kill you… _ _   
_ _   
_

You turned, running out of the kitchen and up the nearby stairs to the bathroom. You were just about to open the door when a familiar voice called out from behind you.   
  


“What on earth took you so long, it’s been an hour since you left and Walgreens is only a 10 minute walk! Did you get lost or s-som…  _ oh my god… _ ”   
  


You had turned around halfway into her lecture, knowing that there was no way out of this. Her face morphed from amused and scolding to horrified in less than a second.   
  


Yeah… you were so dead.   
  


“ _ CHARA!”  _ She screamed, borderline hysterical, “ _ ARE YOU OKAY?! WHAT HAPPENED?! OH MY GOD, YOUR FACE—!?” _ _   
_ _   
_

“Amber! Calm down, it’s okay! I’m okay, everything is okay! Take deep breaths.”   
  


She pretty much fell into you, head burrowing into your shoulder as she suppressed the urge to sob. You brought your arms up to hug her back, but before you could offer any words of support, she tore herself away from you.   
  


Grabbing onto your shoulders, her face set into what could only be described as concerned determination as she spoke.   
  


“C-Come on, let's g-get you to th-the hospital. W-We c-c-can-.”   
  


“NO!”   
  


You had ripped yourself away from her at the word. Covering your mouth as you hadn't meant to yell.   
  


You weren’t going back to that place… not again.   
  


“Sorry, Amber...” You apologized, “Just... no hospitals, okay? You know I don’t like that place. Plus, it’s not necessary here, and the medical bills aren’t worth it.”   
  


“Chara, as m-much as you hate t-that place, you need to go! You're b-bleeding out of your face!”   
  


You almost laughed, did she not realize the irony of that statement? You felt a snarky comeback build up in your throat but you swallowed it down.   
  


“Ab, I’m fine, really. I just need to bandage it up a little bit, and I’ll even call in work for a few days! I’m okay, really!”   
Amber scowled, seemingly frustrated at your response, “YOU ARE NOT FINE! Like I just said, YOU ARE BLEEDING OUT OF YOUR FACE!”   
  


…   
  


“ _ ...srnk-!” _ _   
_ _   
_

“I can’t believe you right now. You know what, fine! We won’t go to the hospital as long as you tell me what the heck happened!”   
  


You sighed, turning towards the bathroom again. You didn’t really want to tell her what happened when you got caught at night or too close to alleyways. She was too innocent for it. Like a marten, thrown into a meadow surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. But she would be okay as long as you were there. A fox that used her cunning mind and nimble feet to evade and dodge. Claws and teeth outmatched, but never outplayed.   
  


Against all odds, the fox stood tall.   
  


Against all odds, you stood tall, and you weren’t going to back down any time soon.   
  


She may not know of the wolves—and you didn't want her to know. Maybe you could replace them with coyotes instead.   
  


“Can I at least get cleaned up first, I’m kinda bleeding everywhere..”   
  


She covered up her laugh with a scoff as you both headed into the bathroom together. You knew Amber wasn’t going to let you do this alone, so you didn’t bother arguing with her.   
  


While she gathered the necessary equipment out of the cabinet, you went to take a look in the mirror… and  _ oh boy. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ That guy really did a number on you. _ _   
_ _   
_

The most obvious slash is the one over your left eye, starting at the middle of your forehead, going over your eye (just barely missing your eyeball), and ending in the middle of your cheek.   
  


The second one was the largest, starting from the left side of your other cheek (closer to your ear) and coming to a stop at your collar bone.   
  


The third one wasn’t bad at all, just a nick over the cover of your mouth.   
  


They had all stopped bleeding as bad as they were when you first got them but still hurt pretty bad. Nothing some painkillers won’t fix though.   
  


Amber’s sigh broke you out of your stupor.   
  


“Jesus, Chara… that looks so painful. How bad does it hurt?”   
_   
_

_ … _ _   
_ _   
_

_ A LO-  _ “Barely hurts anymore, Ab. I told you, I’m okay! I promise!”   
  


She looked displeased by your answer, but she pushed it down and started to pour some antiseptic on a rag.   
  


“Well, come on,” She urged, “sit down on the toilet. Let's get you cleaned up.”   
  
  


* * *

  
  
The gauze that had been wrapped around your face was thick enough to hold the blood but not uncomfortable. The antiseptic had been the worst part of it.   
  


That shit  _ stung. _

You were currently sitting at the kitchen table nursing a mug of hot chocolate. It wasn’t the season for it, but you didn’t care.   
  


Right now you just needed some freaking hot chocolate.

Amber busied herself with making a cup of tea while you pondered about how exactly you were going to tell her that you got attacked by 4 guys how wanted you dead.   
  


And you were currently failing at it.   
  


You rubbed the un-gauzed side of your face.   
  


Oh lord, why did this have to be so difficult…   
  


Amber, seemingly done with tea-making, sat down in the chair next to you. She proceeded to scoot it over until she was right next to you, setting her mug on the table so she could more efficiently rub your back in support.   
  


_ Yeah… Amber really is the best. _ _   
_ _   
_

“You want to tell me what happened?” She asked. “You know how bad it is to bottle this kinda stuff up.”   
  


You sighed, lifting you head out of your hand to look at her properly. Short version, here we go…   
  


“ When I was walking back with your stuff, a guy grabbed me from behind and pulled me into the alleyway I was walking past. There were 4 other dudes there, 3 of them had knives, the other had a bat. They attacked me all at once. I was doing pretty well, but one of them caught me off guard, and…”   
  


_ You felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up straight as you held off the knife of the boy in front of you. _ _   
_ _   
_ ****

** _Someone was behind you._ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _   
_ **

_ You pushed him back, turning around just in time to see the glint of a knife right above your face. _ _   
_ _   
_ ****

** _SLASH_ **

_ There was pain and you staggered back at the sensation. You felt something drip into your left eye, and it burned! You couldn’t see! Wha _ — _ ! _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Something grabbed your sweatshirt, pulling you forward, causing you head to fall back. _ _   
_ _   
_ ****

** _SLASH_ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _   
_ **

_ Oh god, the  _ ** _pain_ ** _ … You panicked, throwing your fist out and a spark of hope lit up in your chest as it collided with something, no, someone. _ _   
_ _ But not fast enough. _ _   
_ _   
_ ****

** _SLASH_ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _   
_ **

_ You gritted your teeth, throwing a hand over your left eye, feeling the blood travel down your face. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You forced open your right one to catch the heart-stopping sight of a man standing over you, knife raised high, eyes full of pure hatred. _ _   
_ _   
_ ****

** _MISS_ ** _   
_ _   
_

_ You dove, turning around to see the end of the swipe connect with air. Before the man could recover, you tackled him, watching the knife fall out of his hand when you both hit the ground. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Taking the opportunity, you grabbed it, only to feel a hand grip your foot and yank you back. You shifted your one-eyed gaze behind you. The man now had a fist raised at your head, ready to bash it to oblivion. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ … _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You didn’t think, there was no time to think. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Only to act. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ … _ _   
_ _   
_

_ So you did. _ _   
_ _   
_ ****

** _SLASH_ **

You pulled yourself back to reality, there was no point in dwelling on the past.   
  


“...Uhhh, yeah. That’s what happened.”   
  


There was silence for a moment and her hand stilled on your back.   
  


You wondered if this is where she would leave you.   
  


But no, sweet Amber pulled you into a tight, loving hug.   
  


“I’m so glad you're okay.”   
  


You smiled. God, you loved this girl.   
  


You both sat there hugging for a while. No more words were said. She didn’t ask about what happened to the men or why you didn’t call the police after the fight, she just hugged you for all she was worth.   


  
After about 3 mins of silence, you spoke.   
  


“At least I got the tampons.”

Amber burst out laughing, pulling away from the hug, “‘The tampons’?! That's what you're worried about?!”   
  


“Yeah I mean, mission accomplished, right?”   


  
“I can’t believe you!”   
  


“I mean, you needed them right? Haha, how are  _ you _ not bleeding everywhere right now?   


You should probably change into them, you know?”   
  


She bit her lip, looking away.   
  


Oh no.

  
_ Oh no. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Please tell me she didn’t! _ _   
_ _   
_

“I may have found some in my closet…”   
  


…   
  


“I’m going to change.”   
  


You got up from your seat, walking to the stairs to your room. Amber screamed after you.   
  


“No, wait! I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you! Don’t leave me here to watch the movie by myself!”   
  


You cackled as you opened your door, calling back down to her.   
  


“Don’t worry, I’m just going to change, I’ll be back down!”   
  


“You better!”   
  


Shutting your door, you pulled off your slightly blood-stained sweatshirt and threw it on the bed to be washed. Before you could peel off your other clothes, though, the sound of claws on glass drew your attention to the custom 8x4x3 foot enclosure against the far wall of your room.   
  


Inside, a 4 ½ feet, male, [Argentine Black and White Tegu](https://www.google.com/search?q=tegu+argentine&tbm=isch&chips=q:tegu+argentine,g_1:male:9La-Uyw1z-I%3D&hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwiC-KrIzsXpAhUULq0KHWvRCh4Q4lYoCnoECAEQIg&biw=1269&bih=613#imgrc=iGfjdAxv7CeKWM) stared back at you just waiting to be pet.   
  


You smiled at your old friend.   
  


“Hey, Midnight, shouldn't you be asleep?”   
  


You loved reptiles, and you used to have a lot more. But after a certain incident, your love for them never died, but you passion of caring for one did.   
  


You had been helping at an expo when a young girl walked up to you with a small bag-like cooler.   
  


She said she needed help but the last couple words of her sentence was tuned out as she opened the cooler and in her hand…   
  


Was a freaking egg.   
  


She had explained to you that one of her friends' tegus laid eggs, and there was no way she could care for them all, so she was looking for people to take them.   
  


Good people with experience, and who would care for them well.   


Even though you had experience with reptiles, it was more on the snake side of things—but despite that, you couldn’t tell this poor girl "no".   
  


Going home early and burying yourself into hours upon hours of research, you have brought the correct incubating equipment, and a temporary cage for him or her. You weren't going to keep the baby once it hatched, you need to find someone who knew what they were doing with tegus.    
  


And not someone who was just winging it as they go.   
  


But once the little guy hatched, and you watched that green tinted, black and white snout poke through the shell...   
  


...saw their pink tongue stick up to smell the air, their little—so little—clawed hands grasp at the edges of the shell...   
  


...those big black eyes stare at you...   
  


They were just so tiny… so small.   
  


You knew right then and there that there was no way you were going to get rid of them.   
  


Not a fucking chance.   
  


So here you were, 5 years later, sitting on the floor with a giant lizard practically  _ melting  _ into your lap as you rubbed his head, eyes closed and all.   
  


You just couldn’t get over how cute he was. It was the cheeks! They're just so big! You knew they're called jowls, but, frankly, you didn’t care.    
  


_ They're just so chubby!!! _ _   
_ _   
_

“Charaaaaa!! Are you coming? Did you get distracted by Midnight again?”   


  
You jumped a little bit at Amber’s yell, then realized why you had come up here in the first place.   
  


“...No…?”   
  


You could practically feel her roll her eyes from downstairs.    


  
“Come on, put him back! I would be okay with you bringing him down here, but last time we both fell asleep and he pooped on the carpet!”   
  


You sighed, moving the tegu off your lap, and stood up to continue changing.   
  


“I know! Don’t worry, I’m coming, just give me a minute!”   
  


…   
  


…   


  
…   


  
…   
  


“I told you to put him back!”   
  


_ “But he’s so cuteeeeee!!” _ ** _   
_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE TEGUS AND NO ONE CAN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT!
> 
> Seriously, I don't own any at the moment but I know A LOT about them and I love them xD.
> 
> I'm sure people are going to complain in future chapters about the realism of Midnight but don't worry... it's on propose ;3!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in... 3 weeks? Finals are coming and I'm kinda freaking out about it so who knows? You might have a chapter this weekend! Seeya!


	3. Place Of Poison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *A relaxing night at work...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Back with chapter 3, sorry for the long wait! Finals were sort of killing me, but we had to snow days and just got an email this morning that due to the snow days and not being able to review any subjects before finals start they can not count against us, only up our grade.
> 
> So, instead of studying I committed to finishing this all day!
> 
> Also a quick announcement!
> 
> My friend and internet mom CrusnikRoxas has released a new HorrorTale book call 'Cadarverous' and it's SUPER good! I suggest you'll give it a try! Just mind the tags please, It features themes of body horror and HEAVY violence! But if you're an angst monster like me, I'm sure you'll find yourself laughing up a storm and enjoying the heck outta this rare gem!
> 
> So please, give it a try!
> 
> Alrighty, that's it, enjoy!

Despite how nice it was to chill at home for a little over a week, walking into the familiar doors of your workplace made your shoulders relax from the tension that had built up unnoticed. 

Passing many tables and a small number of booths, you slipped onto one of the stools at the bar and waited.   
  


Just as you expected, your boss walked out from the back with a sort of stern but amused look on his face.   
  


“Ah, Chara, nice of you to join us! Now, you are going to finally explain what happened to you, because—  _ oh shit!”  _

Yep, that's about the reaction you expected.   
  


The morning after the incident—when Amber had already left for work—you had called your boss to tell him that you would need some time off. He said it was “no big deal, of course”, _ that sap _ .   
  


But when he asked why, well…   
  


You didn’t tell him exactly what happened, just the short version.   
  


You were on an errand, got jumped, got sliced. 

Short and sweet.   
  


Plain and simple.   
  


Oh, but of course he wasn’t accepting that explanation, because, according to him,  _ ‘If it was just that simple, you would be here and not laying on your bed with bandages all over your face.’ _

…

_ ...how…? _

How did he…?

_ What the fuck were you supposed to say back? _

You eventually got him to shut his cocky trap and tell him it would be easier to explain in person than on the phone.   
  


So now here you are, your face resting on your right hand as you smiled at your boss’ shocked face.   
  


He seemed to take a moment to fully compose himself before speaking, but...   
  


“What the fuck.”   
  


...not doing a very good job.   
  


“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad!” It really wasn’t that bad, you’ve had worse.   
  


He seemed to bristle at the statement, posture straightening, “It’s not that bad?! Your left eye isn’t even fully open! Can you even—!?”   
  
“

Yes, I can see out of it. Kind of a shame, though…”   
  


_ “‘Kind of a shame’!?”  _

You took you face out of your hand and sat up, an amused smirk rising on your face.   
  


“Yeah! If I lost my eye then I would have been able to wear a badass eyepatch! How cool would that be!?”   
  


…   
  


There was a moment of silence as he walked behind the bar, in front of you, put his elbows onto the bartop and leaned his face into his hands. You took a minute to laugh at his misery before he spoke.   
  


“What am I going to do with you…?”   
  


Something about the way he said that made you laugh even harder.   
  


“Stop laughing, I need an answer before I lose my mind.”   


Leaning your head on the bar and taking a few breaths to compose yourself, you decided to give the poor man a break and answered.   
  


“Tell ya what, I’ll give you a rundown of what happened to my face while I set up the bar for my shift and you—”   
  


You gestured to him.   
  


“—sit down and have a drink—”   
  


“We’re at work.”   
  


“—of water.”

…

“James…”   
  


“Fair enough.”   
  
  


* * *

  
  


“So what happened to those guys?”   
  


_ Uhhhhh… _

“Just knocked em’ out, nothing too bad.”   
  


James looked at you funny, before nodding. You almost laughed out of relief.   
  


Dodged that bullet.   
  
  


* * *

Time seemed to fly by as you and James set up the place for customers. You had missed this—bartending wasn’t the best job, but for you it was kinda nice. You never knew the kinda people you're gonna meet in this business, and that just made it even more interesting.   
  


And funny, oh so funny.

Around 7:30 pm Hannah walked in, hand raised and mouth partly open in greeting, but as soon as she saw you she snapped it shut.   
  


She looked at your form before her eyes moved to your face.   
  


_ H _ _ ere we go again. _

_ “OH MY GOD, CHARA! WHAT THE FUCK!?” _ _   
_ _   
_

You and James both took turns explaining what had happened to you and the fact that yes, you were okay, and yes, you could see out of your left eye still.   


  
No matter how many times you insisted that you were fine, it didn’t stop her from hugging the shit out of you.   
  


_ Dumb saps. _

Hannah was... special in her own way.   
  


She wasn’t as violent as you by any means, but not as innocent and pure as Amber, either.   
  


That wasn’t to say the girl didn’t have her spunk.   
  


Oh boy, she may not have a decent bite, but her bark was something to be  _ feared. _ _   
_ _   
_

Seeing her yell at customers was a _ sight.  _ This girl had no limits, and while her sprees left you satisfied and thoroughly entertained, you could use some earplugs for the intense ones.   
  


_ God, her voice could go fucking  _ ** _high_ ** _ . _

She was a [maned wolf](https://www.google.com/search?q=maned+wolf&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj7xtD9zsXpAhWDe60KHRJwAuQQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=man&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgAMgQIIxAnMgQIIxAnMgQIABBDMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADoGCAAQCBAeOgcIIxDqAhAnUIivL1io-y9goIQwaAJwAHgDgAFsiAGaCpIBBDE1LjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ7ABCg&sclient=img&ei=nczGXruENoP3tQWS4ImgDg&bih=613&biw=1269&hl=en#imgrc=edBIAyYvTU9bsM)—tall, cute, and  **[loud](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFvLKtWAZWI).** **   
** **   
**

You drifted out of your thoughts as the dirty blonde haired waiter walked out of the back, wiping the tables to make sure everything was ready.   
  


You pulled out your phone, 7:47 pm, 13 minutes till opening. You weren’t nervous at all, surprisingly. Just excited.

And safe, you felt safe.   
  


This was your second home after all.   
  


“Chara, before we open, please, tell me,  _ what the heck were you thinking? _ ”   
  


Hannah’s question had startled you out of your daze. You were wondering when she was going to reprimand you—expected a lot more yelling though. Guess she used her time in the back to calm down.   
  


_ Nice. _

“That I was totally going to die and then, after somehow not dying, that thought switched to  _ ‘holy fuck, how am I alive?’.” _

“Chara, I swear to god, I’m going to kill you.”   
  


You raised an eyebrow.   


  
“I'm surprised you haven’t done that already.”   
  


“I will if you don’t shut up.”   
  


“You’re the one who asked the question, dumbo.”   
  


“THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL ME—!?”   
  


“Ladies! Ladies! Let’s not kill each other, I don’t want to have to clean the blood off the floor.”   
  


Both your heads snapped up to look at James as he emerged from the back room, and by the amused smirk on his face you could guess he was already enjoying this.   
  


You couldn’t help but laugh at his proud look. Part of you wanted to give him a pat on the head and say ‘good boy’ in that dumb baby tone that people always use.   
  


That thought sent you into further laughter.

Hearing Hannah gasp in offense at his comment in the background was not helping either.   
  


“Really? You’re worried about the blood!? Not, oh well, I don’t know… your friends being dead?!”   
  


“What friends?”   
  


_ Oh dear lord, what did he just say!? _

You were wheezing at this point—both from James’ comment and the look of what could only be described as  _ ‘what the fuck is this shit?’ _ on Hannah's face.   
  


“James! Ho-holy c-crap! That was… _ s-savage!” _ _   
_ _   
_

You heard Hannah deadpan behind your wheezing, “Did she just say ‘savage’.”   
  


“Yep!” was James’ cheerful answer.   


  
This was gonna be a fun night.   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The place wasn’t too crowded tonight, thankfully. You just wanted a calm and relaxing work night.   
  


No fights, please.   
  


It was mostly the same as every other shift, serve some drinks, stir up some small talk, crack a few jokes, maybe give some advice. Otherwise, everything was nice and chill.   


Well, excluding the fact that EVERYONE was staring at your scarred up face.   
  


You couldn’t blame them, but come on, just one or two looks and then back off.   
  


“Hey! Hey, Chara!”   
  


_ Oh god, why him? Of all people, why him!? And why does he have to know my name!? _ _   
_ _   
_

You begrudgingly turned your face towards the black-haired man who was taking up a seat at the bar.   
  


_ Hunter. _ _   
_ _   
_

This dude was always here and girls were always,  _ always  _ all over him. You didn’t get it, and neither did Hannah. But he never approached any of you before.   
  


So why was he here now?   


  
You did your best to swallow down all the things you would just _ love _ to say to his pretty little face and took a breath.   
  


“Can I help you with anything, sir?”   
  


He seemed to be actually trying not to stare at your scar, which was unexpected.   
  


_ Maybe he isn’t too bad. _ _   
_ _   
_

Hunter seemed to ponder what he wanted to say before answering.   
  


“That's a pretty nasty scar you got there, can I ask what happened? If that's okay? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”   
  


_ Oh… you may have misjudged him a bit _ .   
  


Wow, you’re an asshole.   
  


Trying not to focus on your inner guilt, you noticed that it seemed as if his question had gotten the attention of most—if not all—of the people at the bartop. Men and women were looking at you, curious for an answer.   
  


Ehhhhhhh, to heck with it.   
  


“Mmmmm, yeah, sure, I’ll tell ya what happened.”   
  


At this point, retelling the events to your scars was pretty much routine. The looks of muted horror on the women's faces and winces on the men’s didn’t phase you as much as they should.   
  


Everything was just kinda foggy…   
_   
_

_ You should be worried about that, right? _ _   
_

“Can you see out of it?”   
  


That small thought dropped your mind as one of the partons spoke up, asking you a question. You looked at her with a smile.   
  


“Yeah, just doesn’t open all the way. Not a big deal, just feels a little weird from time to time.”   
  


You got some ‘lucky for you’s and slurred ‘nice’s as a reply, which didn’t really bother you. Everyone at the bar has had at least 3 shots, and you were surprised the woman had even asked you that question in a full sentence.    
  


You usually kept a paper to tally who had how many drinks and what substance it was to make sure you didn’t give anyone too much alcohol.   
  


Because alcohol poisoning was a—

The hairs on the back of your neck stood up.   
  


_ Danger. Danger. Run. Get out. Protect yourself. Be ready. _

** _Danger._ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _   
_ **

You turned your head so fast, you were surprised it didn’t fall off.   
  


Your eyes connected with Hunter’s….   
  


_ He was staring at you. _ _   
_ _   
_

It wasn’t any special kinda staring, he wasn’t smiling or making any creepy jesters. Just the type of staring that people did when they zoned out, not realizing that they were actually staring at somebody.

But for some reason…

_ It sent shivers down your spine. _

_ I _ _ t made you want to jump over the bartop, beat the living hell out of him and throw him out. _

But you didn’t. You just looked away, walked into the back room, and sat down on the only couch in there.   
  


You needed a minute to calm down, the bar would be okay without you.   
  


You just needed a minute.   


  
“Hey… you okay?”

You jumped a little bit, but calmed down when you realized it was just Hannah.   
  


“Yeah, I’m okay… just some dude staring at me made my body go into overdrive.”   
  


You knew there was no sense in lying to her, she deserved to know this much. Plus, you didn’t want her to be oblivious around that guy too.   
  


S he sighed and sat down with you, shoulders touching, the contact sending waves of calmness through your system.

“Yeah, I’ve had that feeling too. Who was it?”   


  
“Hunter.”   


  
“Ah, not surprising in the slightest.”   
  


You snorted a bit.

  
“Want me to beat the shit outta him?”   
  


A startled laugh came out of you. You knew she would probably say something along those lines, but not that sudden! Give a girl a warning!    
  


“Hannah, as much as I love you, there is no way you could beat the shit out of him.”   


  
“I could make his ears bleed!”   
  


“I’m sure you could, but does the situation really call for it?”   
  


“ _ Gahhh _ , no.”   
  


“That’s a good girl.”   
  


“Pat my head again and you’re going to lose that hand.”   
  


“Ooooo, someone's feisty today.”   
  


“And rightfully so, because _ someone _ almost died a week and a half ago!”   
  


“Hey, I didn’t almost die, for your information! I’m here and perfectly—”

“ _ *Cough cough*” _ _   
_ _   
_

You two looked up to see James standing over you, arms crossed and back straight.   
  


_ You swear you could hear boss music in the background somewhere… _ _   
_ _   
_

Both you and Hannah looked at each other again,    
  


before promptly launching off the couch and running back out to the front, leaving James to stay in the back, laughing at your panic.   
  


He wiped a tear from his eyes.    


  
“That never gets old.”   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The rest of the night went by smoothly after that, and Hunter must've left, because by the time you and Hannah both got back out there, he was nowhere to be seen. Closing time came rather quickly, much to Hannah’s delight. Seemed like every girl was getting a visit from mother nature around this time.   
  


Except you, of course.   
  


She had turned on some  _ ’Alec Benjamin _ ’ while you all cleaned up the place for the night. That, and, according to her, ‘some cute boy music was needed’. You didn’t mind, his music was really good.

‘ _ This night is cold in the kingdom, I can feel you fade away.’ _ _   
_ _   
_ _ ‘From the kitchen to the bathroom sink and _ — _ your steps keep me awake.’  _

Hannah was swiping and James was helping in the kitchen while you wiped down the bar top.   
  


It was a nice calm atmosphere that you needed after your little stare down with Hunter.   
  


Well, that is, until someone decided to kick through the door.   
  


“Where’s my peachy little sunshine warm rain sweet breeze fruity ice pop on a hot summer day in June? :3”   
  


_ Ayyyyy! _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “What the fucking hell—” _ _   
_   


“ Ha, over her bud!”

You jumped over the bartop and snuggled into Amber’s chest, even though you were taller than her.   
  


Just like that, your day was 10 times better.   


“Hey, Char-Char!”   
  


“Amber, what are you doing here? It’s past 3!”   
  


You exclaimed, pulling away from her.   
  


She smiled up at you, her bright amber eyes looking up at you with glee.   
  


“I’m taking you home!”   
  


“Thank god one of you has common sense!”   
  


Amber put an offended hand over her heart, gasping as she grabbed your head and pulled it into her chest.   
  


“Don’t you dare speak about my peachy little sunshine warm rain sweet breeze fruity ice pop on a hot summer day in June like that!”   


You snorted in her breast—how the hell did she even say it that smoothly!?   
  


“Oh my god, what is wrong with you two!?”   
  


You turned your head on Amber’s chest to look at Hannah.   
  


“A lot,” you both said at the same time.

…   
  


Then both of you hit the floor laughing.   
  


“Fuck this shit! I’m helping in the back!”   
  


Your laughter drew out Hannah’s fading footsteps.

  
Amber was the first to calm down, helping you up and off the wooden floor, your earthy brown hair waving with the force.   
  


She took a breath and opened her mouth, clearly wanting to say something, before an opening door interrupted her.   
  


“I assume you two are responsible for Hannah’s sudden mood change.”   
  


You both smiled, guilty eyes looking at the other for help. You were the first to respond, saving Amber from the trouble. A relieved sigh ghosted from her lips.   
  


“Yeah, that was out fault, sorry?”   
  


“Ehhh, don’t worry about it, she’s funny when she’s mad.”   
  


Welp, that was not the reaction you expected.   
  


Was kind of true, though.   
  


“So, I’m guessing you're here to take Chara home.”   
  


“Yep!”   
  


“Well, you two have a good night then.”   
  


Wait, what?   
  


“Don’t you want me to finish with the bar first?”   
  


He just smiled at you, “Don’t worry about it, we got it! You two get some rest.”   


  
You knew there was no room for argument, so you both said bye to James, hopped into Amber’s car, and drove home for some much-needed sleep.

…

…

…

…

  
_ ‘If you wanna go, then I’ll be so lonely...’ _ _   
_ _   
_ _ ‘If you’re leaving, baby, let me down slowly...’ _   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Alec Benjamin so much! His songs are so underrated!
> 
> Alrighty serious time, I am an author who foreshadows a lot! I'm sure some of you have caught on but if not I'm gonna be nice and give you all a couple of hints.
> 
> 1\. There is a lot more going on than what it seems
> 
> 2\. Character descriptions :3
> 
> 3\. I used the words 'earthy brown' to describe Chara's hair color, didn't I?
> 
> That's all you get! The next chapter might be out sooner cuz of Christmas break and all but we will see!  
Make sure to check out Roxas' fic! https://archiveofourown.org/works/21808357/chapters/52040893 
> 
> 'Let Me Down Slowly' by Alec Benjamin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50VNCymT-Cs


	4. Adder Of Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY LATE CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
> 
> This was PLANED to be released on Christmas day but I ended up adding a lot more to this chapter than I should have. 29 pages baby! Hell yeah!
> 
> I don't have much to say at the beginning of this one so I hope you had a good Christmas and enjoy the chapter!
> 
> *GORE/VIOLENCE WARNING*

_ I can almost feel the tick like clockwork _

_ Hearing all the voices in my head each time I go _

_ There’s a game they play that I’m not part of _ _  
_ _  
_

_ Tearing at the weaknesses and all the faults they know _

* * *

  
  
  
  


_ You were floating. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Just… floating in this endless expanse of gray. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Or at least, that’s how it seemed. _

_ You could see a line of white in the distance, like a horizon, but one that seemed infinitely impossible to reach. Everything else was just empty gray, no trees, no buildings... _

_ Panicking a little bit, your floating form spun around in a full 360, looking for something to explain your current situation.  _ _   
_ _   
_

_ What is this place? _

_ Where were you? _

_ How did you get here? _

_ Why- _

_ -wait… how did you get here? The last thing you remember was… going to bed… _

_ Oh… _

_ You were dreaming. _

_ That makes a lot more sense. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You laughed in relief, now less worried about your and possibly Amber’s safety, and more puzzled by the situation.  _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You were never much of a dreamer ― sure, when…  _ ** _that _ ** _ happened, you had your fair share of night terrors. Yet after that, you never really dreamed, just go to sleep, then wake up. Simple as that. _

_ Which is why this circumstance was making you just a tad nervous. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Just a little bit… _

_ You looked around some more, trying to see if anything had changed, when you started to feel surprisingly... _ _   
_ _   
_ ****

** _Warm._ ** _   
_ _   
_

_ Right in the center of your chest. _

_ Like the feeling you get after drinking a steaming hot cup of cocoa, or snuggling up in a blanket next to the fire. _

_ The warmth seemed to grow and you found yourself wrapping your chest and bending your legs in. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You opened your eyes  _ ― _ when did you close them?  _ ― _ to see a bright red and azure glow coming from the center of your chest. So bright that it seemed to light up the void around you. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ The warmth traveled to your eyes as you stared questionably at your glowing form. _

_ This was one weird ass dream. _

_ Yet you felt so comfortable, so safe. Like nothing could ever harm you here. _

_ Safety… _

_ The thought brought tears to your eyes. _

_ How long had it been since you could truly let your guard down? Not have to worry about the chance of being attacked. The chance of everyone you love dying… _

_ Again. _

_ But it was okay, it was okay now. You seemingly had all of this to yourself, all of the  _ ** _space_ ** _ you needed. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ For now, it was okay. _

_ So you just floated there, resting. Eyes closed, not really thinking but more in a meditative state. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ One might say you were dead to the world. _

_ There was a shift in  _ ** _space_ ** _ around you. _

_ “Welcome, young  _ ** _Vita_ ** _ . How nice of you to finally join us.” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ … _

_ Wait, what?! _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You jerked and spun around to see… _

_ What… what were you even seeing. _

_ The figure in front of you had almost a skull-like face, though it was drastically different in every way. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ His - you were assuming it was a he - sockets had a white dot of light in them that glowed brightly against the stark white of his face. There were cracks running from each eye socket, the left, starting from the top of his socket and going up, passed the back of his head, the right starting from the bottom and ending almost at his mouth. Which seemed to function like that of a human mouth, just no teeth and only a black void within, much like his eye sockets. A bit further down, his neck was covered by what could only be described as a white sweater collar. Below that, the creature's body was black- no, darker than black. He had no arms or legs, just a black mass that seemed to almost be made out of liquid. Moving and bending but holding shape nonetheless. Lasting, floating close to his chest were two skeletal hands with a circular hole in the palm of each of them. _

_ Y _ _ ou stared at him for a moment, in shock, fear, curiosity, who knows? _

_ He laughed, “<strike>I anticipated a more... expressive reaction from you. Perhaps it was wise that the power was passed on to you.</strike>” _

_ Now that spawned a more  _ ** _expressive _ ** _ reaction from you. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “What do you mean ‘power’?” You questioned, a hint of anger adding to your voice. “ Who are you? What are you!? Is this even a drea-” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “<strike>Now, now</strike>,” The creature put his hands up, “<strike>calm down, young one. All of your questions will be answered as- Ah, where are my manners.</strike> _

_ <strike>My name is W. D. Gaster.</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ He, no, Gaster, held his hand out for you to take, which you glared at. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You didn’t even know  _ ** _what_ ** _ this guy is, of course you weren’t going to shake his hand! _

_ … _

_ Well… he didn’t seem bad, and he wasn’t giving off any bad signals either. Plus, it was pretty rude not to. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Wait, rude?! _ _   
_ _   
_

_ W _ _ hy the heck were you worried about being rude?! _ _   
_ _   
_

_ This isn’t real! You're dreaming, right?! _

_ … _

_ Right?! _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You threw both of your hands on your face and groaned in sheer frustration and confusion and- _

_ … _

_ WAS HE LAUGHING AT YOU?! _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Putting your hands back down revealed that yes, Gaster was, in fact, laughing at you. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Grumbling mildly and ignoring the blush on your cheeks, you reached out and shook his skeletal hand. You made note of the fact that despite clearly not having any blood or organs, his hands were somehow warm. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “Chara.” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ He just chuckled more in response. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “<strike>Ah, Chara, yes, I do remember now. Coincidences are interesting, aren’t they? Or is it simply just fate? Very fascinating, don't you agree?”</strike> _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Okay, scratch that, weird vibes coming in now. _

_ “Yeah… fascinating…” _

_ Gaster seemed to mull over his words more before speaking, and you shifted a bit more. Now that you were more aware of it, this whole floating thing was weird. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Your attention quickly shifted from that thought as Gaster started to speak. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “<strike>Now, to answer your questions, I am what is known as a monster. A forgotten species that have been forced to live underground for centuries. This will not stay true for long, as a sequence of seemingly impossible events that are about to take place will change the future of monsterkind as we know it. And most importantly, </strike> _

<strike> </strike>

<strike> _ it will change you. _ _   
_ _   
_ </strike>

<strike> _ The things that are about to unfold in the next 72 hours will not be pleasant, but they are necessary for the timeline’s survival. I am sorry for what is to happen, and I am  _ </strike> <strike> _ sorry for your past. But there is nothing that can be done about it. And, to answer your other questions, we are in the Void, and yes, this is a dream. _ _   
_ _   
_ </strike>

<strike> _ But does the fact that you are unconscious determine the reality of this conversation, or, as a matter of fact, this situation as a whole? No, I think not, any questions?” _ </strike>

_ … _

_ … _

_ … _

_ “...uhhhh…” _

_ “<strike>Perfect! Moving on</strike> <strike>-</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ What?! How the hell did this guy think you were going to be able to process that much information in any timely manner? He just basically exposition-dumped all over you while saying ‘you got that good, cause here we go!’. _

_ … _

_ You didn’t sign up for this shit. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “- <strike>I have summoned you here to prepare you for the following events and to hopefully ease the amount of your suffering. For my friends in the Underground…</strike> _ <strike> _   
_ _   
_ </strike>

_ <strike>I can only pray.</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You were getting more and more alarmed as his speech went on. Gaster  _ ** _knew_ ** _ your past, he  _ ** _knew_ ** _ your imminent future… _

_ He knew that shit was about to go down and that it was about to go down fast. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “What… what am I even supposed to…?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ He looked pained, to say the least. _

_ “<strike>I am sorry, young </strike> _ <strike> ** _Vita_ ** </strike> _ <strike>. Hold still.</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Now you were truly panicking, trying to find ways of escape, even though there was no ground to escape on. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You suddenly realized just how utterly helpless you were. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “Wait! Don’t-! At least explain why this is happening!” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Everything was starting to boil over, and, in complete desperation, you screamed a question that you had been asking yourself for so very long.  _

_ “ _ _ Why me?!” _

_ Gaster shook his head as he reached for you, floating hands multiplying. A sad smile grazed his lips. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “<strike>Like I said, young one, coincidences are interesting…</strike> _

_ … _

_ <strike>aren’t they?</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Without giving you a chance to respond, Gaster pulled you in- _

_ -and slammed one of his skeletal hands on your face, the hole in his palm centered over your right eye. _

_ T _ _ here was a snap deep inside of you as the forgotten warmth from your chest and eyes spread across your frozen form. Your vision was obscured by azure and red before… _

** _Futures came flo o d i n g i n . . ._ **

_   
  
  
_

** _Blue and magenta sweater… _ **

_ _ ** _Mt. Ebott…_ **

_ _ ** _Hole, deep and dark… _ **

_ _ ** _ Golden flowers…_ **

_   
  
_

** _ Violet ruins… _ **

_   
  
_

_ _ ** _Fire… Snow… _ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _Bone… Warmth… _ **

_   
  
_

_ _ ** _Water… _ **

_   
  
_

** _ Spears… Tea… _ **

_ _ ** _Heat, lava… Machinery… _ **

_   
  
_

** _Golden hall… Blue… _ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _ Flowers… Fight…_ **

_   
  
_

** _ Win… Peace… _ **

_   
  
  
_

** _ RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _FIGHT… DUST…_ **

** _ BLOOD…_ **

_   
  
_

** _ BONE…. GOLD… _ **

** _ VINES… DEATH... _ ** ** _   
  
_ **

** _ RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _RES E T_ **

** **

** _RE S E T_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _R E S E T_ **

_   
  
  
_

** _R E S E T_ **

_   
  
  
  
_

** _R E S E T_ **

_   
  
  
_

_ … _

_   
  
_

You woke up…   
  
  


* * *

_   
  
  
  
_ To say that you were panicking would be an understatement.   
  


You were borderline  _ hysterical  _ when you woke up, immediately calling Amber to make sure she was okay.   
  


Even after that, taking an hour to calm down.

This was not how you wanted to start your day.

Changing your plans of going to the park to draw, you instead sat down on the couch, watching TV with Midnight. The goof had crawled under your white tank top to sap some of your body heat.

Not noticing the lizard had been laying on you for another reason as well, even if it was mentally impossible for any type of lizard to reach that level of thinking.

Amber had come home around 5 pm, naturally worried over your panicked phone call, even if you assured her that it was just a nightmare.   
  


Even so, you didn’t mind the extra hugs.   
  


A little over an hour later you started to prepare for work. Your…  _ ‘dream/nightmare’  _ wasn’t really making the idea particularly exciting, but you couldn't just ditch the guys…

Again.   
  


Amber was struggling to force a granola bar down your throat while you insisted that yes, you were fine, and yes, you were going to have something for dinner at the bar, when -

\-  ** _your window shattered._ **

_   
  
_

_ No…  _

_   
  
_

_ Why…? _

_ Why me…? _

_   
  
_

* * *

_   
  
_

There was no hesitation, no second-guessing.   
  


_ Amber screamed in surprise and fear. _

You didn’t gape in shock as a man dressed in black launched through your window. Or at the glass shredding your clothes and skin.

_ You just charged. _

You met him with a straight punch to the face, not giving him a chance to react before repeating the process, pummeling the man to oblivion.

“ _ Chara!” _ _   
_

_   
_ You looked up and locked eyes with Amber, what did she…?

Oh…

You backed away from the living room window, moving closer to her. So this is what Gaster meant by suffering.

The guy you had been punching was unconscious, but… that hardly made any difference.

There were now 6 of them.

You could see glass traveling from the kitchen window and the back sliding door.

You had taken on 4 before, but one of them was inexperienced in fighting. He had been easy to ignore. These were all grown men: late 20s, if you had to guess. All six of them were dressed in black from head to toe, face mask and all. They had knives, because, of course… why not?   
  


Shaking hands gripped your shoulders, and you didn’t have to look to know it was Amber ― her head pressed into your back, too terrified to even speak.

You didn’t want her to have to experience this. You didn’t want her to die.

You knew that you were never getting out of this situation alive, but it didn’t matter, as long as Amber got out.

_ As long as she made it out. _ _   
_ _   
_

One of the men nodded to the others and you prepared yourself for pain.

They all lunged at you, and in a desperate attempt to save her you threw her behind you and out of the circle that your future murders had created.   
  


You didn’t get to see where she ended up as a sea of black swallowed you and knives dived into your flesh. Slashing at your back, digging into your arms and legs, ripping open your stomach.

You had thought you had felt true pain before…

But being ripped to shreds alive seemed to change your view of pain completely.   
  


You howled as one slash cut deeper than the others thus far, you could feel your intestines spill out onto the carpet.   
  


You were slammed to the ground, momentarily thrown out of the ocean of black to see Amber on the ground staring at your disemboweled form in complete and utter horror.   
  


She looked too shocked to do anything but stare. 

And for just a moment… you could see your sister there, helpless.

_ No! Not this time! _

Knowing you were running out of time, you pushed past the blood filling your lungs and mouth and yelled with the last of your strength.   
  


** _“RUN, YOU IDIOT!!”_ **

You saw her jolt into the standing position before something made contact with the back of your head. The darkness filled your vision completely as the coldness of death closed in.   
  


_ No… _ _   
_ _   
_

_ I just… I need to see… _

One last push was just enough to see-

-Amber’s body still and bleeding on the ground.

You let out a choked gurgle.

Something sharp pierced the back of your head

Everything stopped.

_   
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

You gasped like a drowning man, tears ran from your eyes as you frantically looked around.   
  
  


You were standing… in one piece.

“Chara, I swear, if you don’t eat this damn granola bar, I’m going to-”   
  


And Amber…

_ Amber was okay. _

You stared at her in disbelief for a full 15 seconds before crossing the room at an inhuman speed, hugging ― no, slamming her into your chest.

Sobbing into her shoulder, you ignored her questioning words of concern, instead trying to figure out what had happened.

…

_   
  
_

The conclusion you had come up with wasn’t a very bright one.

Amber had died..

You both died…

And now both of you were back… wait, no…

_ '“Chara, I swear, if you don’t eat this damn granola bar, I’m going to-”’ _ _   
_

Amber had said that before…

You have seen this before, Gaster has shown you this. You had seen bits and pieces of this happening to others.   
  


Time… time was repeating…

_ Dear god… _

“Chara! Chara, please! You gotta tell me what's wro-”

_ “We need to get out.” _ _   
_

_   
_ She pulled back and looked at you, confused and slightly alarmed.   


  
“What do you mean? Come on, Chara, slow down. Just explain to me what's going on with you.”   
  


You shook her shoulders, trying to get the point across ― both of you were about to die-!   
  


_ “We need to leave-!” _ _   
_ _   
_

\-  ** _your window shattered._ **

This time you were too frozen to react as the men in black filed into your house once more.

Without the action of you pummeling the first one, they wasted no time closing in on you and driving those cold, metal claws into your flesh.

You howled more at the sight of Amber being stabbed than the pain that rocketed through you.

_   
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

This time you just collapsed, shutting down and curling into yourself on the floor. 

You didn’t feel Amber hug you, you didn’t hear her voice either. Your mind had just become an abyss of questions with no answers.

They were going to come back.

You had to get up.

You only had a minute and a half tops before your window shattered again.

Yet you couldn’t move, it felt like your limbs were made of lead.

…

The pain wasn’t as bad this time.   
  


In some way -

It felt like the only thing keeping you sane.

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

You didn’t cry.

You felt as if there were no tears to shed.

You were just numb.

…

The pain was kinda nice…   
  
  


** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

You laughed.   
  


It was so funny how all these things seemed to happen to you.

What was even the point in wondering why.   
  


People always said that humor was a great way to deal with pain, right?   
  


So why not laugh?

It was really funny-   
  
****

** _*SLAP*_ **

_ “CHARA, GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!” _

Oh…

Wait… what were you doing!? You needed to focus, you needed to get her out-    
  


…   
  


You laughed through the pain this time.   
  
  


** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

Hehehehehehe…   
  


Ahahahahahah... ahahahah…

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA….   
  
_ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! _

** _HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-!!_ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _   
  
_ **

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

_ Why… _

_   
  
_

_   
_ ** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

_ Why won’t it stop… _ _   
_ _   
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

_ Please… please… _

_ Just stop... _

_ She doesn’t deserve this… _

_   
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_ STOP! _ _   
_ _   
_

_ SHE DOESN’T DESERVE THIS! _

_ NONE OF THIS IS HER FAULT, PLEASE! _

** _STOP!_ **

_   
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

…………..

_   
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

…………………………..

_   
  
_

** _RES_ ** -

_ You can do it, young  _ ** _Vita_ ** _ … _ _   
_ _   
_ ** _Kill them all._ **

…

…

…

** _\- Snap! -_ **

_   
  
_

- ** _ET_ **

There was a familiar warmth in my eyes.

You strode over to Amber before she could even say a word. Slapping your hands down on top of her shoulders you spoke, voice monotone.

“Go upstairs to your room, lock your door and don’t come out until I say so.”   
  


The familiar look of confusion crossed her face before you said something that you should have said eleven tries ago.   
  


_ “Buttercups.” _

With that you ran straight for the kitchen knives, breathing a sigh of relief at the sound of Amber’s pounding footsteps climbing up the stairs and then slamming and locking her door.   
  


In the confusion of the time jumps, pain, death, and soul shattering grief, you had completely forgotten about the existence of the code word.

No reason to dwell on that now… they would be here any second.

You turned off all the lights downstairs, hid behind the living room couch and waited.

The warmth in your eyes grew, and as you looked down at the knife, you saw two azure and red dots reflecting back at you.

…

_ Were your eyes glowing? _ _   
_ _   
_

\-  ** _your window shattered._ **

_ Ah, there they are. _

Y ou sat patiently, listening to their footsteps. Waiting for just the right moment to…

…

_ There. _ _   
_ _   
_

You jumped, sinking your knife into your attacker’s stomach, digging as deep as you could before ripping the knife through his flesh to the left.    
  


Hearing his gurgled scream was music to your ears.

There was shouting from the others and you dropped to the ground as one of them tripped right over you.

Your glowing eyes acting as a flashlight made it easier to locate the fallen man’s face and jam the knife between his eyes.   
  


But it also made it ten times easier for the murderers to see you.

_ Fuck…  _

Thinking fast you got to your feet and waited for one of them to jump at you. They were out of sync and partially panicking.   
  


They weren’t prepared for  _ this  _ kind of fight.

Instead of surrounding you or lunging at you all at the same time, the first two went in one after the other.   
  


It was an easy stab to the chest there, slash to the neck there, and then it was three more to go.

The blood was highlighting the dead look on your face.   
  


And that look barely changed as the last three ripped into you all at once, despite your best efforts to fight them off.

_   
  
  
  
  
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

This time was no different ― you had decided to keep the lights-off strategy, because it was way more efficient than them being able to see you clearly.

The first two went down with no problem, it was the next two that gave you trouble.

Deciding to try and strike them first had been a bad idea. It was like walking into a fox trap. Sure, you managed to get the meat, but not without a cord around your neck to choke the life out of you.   
  


Killing one more did not matter if the last four were there to rip you apart.   
  
  


** _RESET_ **

_   
  
_

You had killed 5 of them this time, but that wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

The knife was knocked out of your hand and as another one of them charged, you raised your fist to punch his face in but…

You felt that familiar snap deep within you.   
  


Yet this time you weren’t in the Void, you weren't dead. 

You were alive, this was your own real doing.   
  


You felt a  _ flood  _ of power fill you, and as your fist moved forward-

_ -it lit on fire. _

Azure and red flames wrapped around your hand and traveled up to your elbow, the warmth encircling you.

You felt the heat of the impact when your fist met his face, the dance of color and glow mesmerizing you.   
  


Using their shock to your advantage, you felt around with the flames in your grasp. Creating small balls and extinguishing, only to relight within seconds.   
  


Of course your three remaining attackers recovered from their shock, ignoring your practice time to tear into your flesh.   
  


But you didn’t mind this time.   
  


_ This wasn’t even close to a loss… _

** _Not in the slightest._ **

_   
  
_

** _RESET_ **

_   
  
  
_

You had a plan.   


  
After sending Amber upstairs, you did a quick check.   
  


You imagined the warmth in your hands, the look of the flames -

Oh…   
  


Just like that, a small ball of fire formed in your hand.   
  


Okay… now to turn in off.   
  


You thought about pulling the warmth in instead of pushing it out. The absence of the flames-   
  


-just like that, it vanished.

It was like second nature.

No time to question it, you needed to get moving.   
  


Wasting no time, you threw the front door open and took off running into the night, the cool autumn chill rustling your hair.   
  


Speeding down the sidewalk, you spotted a black van turn towards your house in the neighborhood, only to slow down at the sight of your panting form.   
  


_ That has to be them. _

Confirming your assumptions, the seven men jumped out of the vehicle and had started to make a beeline for you. That was all you needed to turn and bolt into the trees of the forest behind your neighborhood.

The forest that held Mount Ebott.

Looking behind you every once in a while to make sure you were still being followed, you couldn’t help but wonder…

What if… the time jumps continued after this..?   


  
You weren’t the one causing them ― based on what Gaster showed you. They were being caused by something or someone in the mountain. There had to be a way to stop them. There has to have been something else that Gaster had shown you in those visions.

Like-!

Oh my god…

Fifteen…   
  


In the visions… the golden star had flickered fifteen times.

And if you were counting right… this was the fifteenth time jump. It had to be!   
  


That's what the star stood for, right? You had seen it every time ― without fail ― in between each death. That had to be it.   
  


It had to be.

Getting deeper into the forest, you could hear the men’s footsteps gain in on you. They would catch up soon, and there was no point in wasting energy to lengthen the chase at this point. You had gotten them away from Amber, the most important part was over.   
  


Skidding to a halt and turning around, you imagined the fire you had practiced.   
  


It appeared and you willed it to fly…

And it did.   
  


Your pursuers yelped in alarm, but the one you had been aiming for wasn’t able to turn directions fast enough, and it hit him square in the head.

He didn’t get up, you could smell the burning flesh from here.

Well then.

_ That was surprisingly easy. _

While the men stood there in shock, you started to push the warmth to your hands with more force, your glowing eyes lighting up your vision. You could feel the heat pouring out of your skin as more and more balls of flame formed into existence around you. 

It felt so natural, just like a dance or song.   
  


You laughed in glee and wonder.

_ It was just so easy. _ _   
_ _   
_

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!”   
  


Again, you laughed, this time at their shock and fear.   
  


“Oh, buddy,” You chuckled,   
  


“ **I’m your w o r s t n i g h t m a r e.”**

The fireballs launched at their designated targets with ease as the men tried their best to dodge.   
  


You couldn’t help but notice that when the fireballs hit the forest floor, the ground didn’t catch fire.

There was a battle cry to your right, and you spun around to see one of them sprinting at you, knife raised.   
  


You didn’t even have to think, it had become so natural so fast.   
  


You lifted your arms straight out in front of you and spread your fingers out wide, flames pushing forth from your hands ― it was as if they burst out of a dragon's mouth.

Burning the man to oblivion before he could even reach you.

The power was so lifting, ― so hope filled, ― that you felt like you were drunk on it. Red and azure flames circled around you in trails, burning anyone who got close.   
  


It was no wonder that you were finally able to come out on top.   
  


Crying while staring up at the stars, just hoping that it was over, that you had finally won.

It had to be over, right?

The walk back to your house was long and tiring after not only the recent fight, but the layers of death and loss that were starting to pile onto you more and more.

Finally getting home and opening the door to a crying Amber, you made sure to give her a short run down of what happened.   
  


“Was it them?!”   
  


“Yes... I think so, but calm down, it’s okay! I lost them in the forest!”   
  


“Did you get into any fighting at all?”   


  
“Sort of ― threw a few punches, but that was about it.”   
  


“Okay, okay, good. I called Hannah and told her you would be able to make it tonight-”   
  


_ Oh thank god, Amber, you legend. _ _   
_ _   
_

“-and I called the police as well, they should be here soon.”   
  


You almost panicked at this, then remembered that your firestorm had pretty much burned them and their ashes to the ground.   
  


And, well, that van wasn’t going to move itself.

Nodding, you prepared yourself for the worst.   
  


And, thankfully, it was far from bad.   
  


The two officers were very nice and understanding as you explained what happened, obviously leaving out the time jumps and fire part of it.   
  


When the female officer asked how you knew they were coming, you answered with something that you hoped that they could understand.   
  


“I… I just felt this… feeling of wrongness. I almost don’t know how to describe it. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, almost like someone was watching me. I just had this gut feeling of  _ danger and fear _ that I couldn’t resist acting upon.”   
  


While the female cop looked skeptical, the male one smiled at you with this look of understanding that you couldn’t help but smile back at.   
  


“Do not worry, ma’am, I can understand what you mean. I have felt that feeling as well.”   
  


After some more questioning, they said they would take care of the abandoned van and keep an eye out.

They were sweet, but you couldn’t help the joy that ignited in your heart when you shut the door.

_ Was it over? Please, just let it be over, god, please! _ _   
_ _   
_

“Hey…”   
  


You only got to turn around before she pulled you into a hug while also moving both of you to the couch.   
  


Once you two sat down, you shoved your face into her shoulder, trying to hold in the sobs as everything that had happened in the past- god, what time was it even?   
  


It was getting hard to think straight.   
  


_ You had watched Amber die… _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You had seen her die… _ _   
_ _   
_

You choked on the block building up in your throat, trying to hold it in. She didn’t need to see you this weak, dammit!   
  


“Shhhhhhh, it’s okay, Chara. It’s okay, they're gone now. I’m here, I’m still here.”   
  


_ “It’s over now.” _ _   
_ _   
_

…   
  


That was all you needed to hear.   


  
You knew she didn’t remember the time jumps ― if she did, she would have been able to react accordingly to the repeating torture. And there was a large part of you that she didn’t remember: you could assume that you were the only one who did, judging by your now dead attackers and the cop’s obliviousness to the repeating events.   
  


Yet, for you, that one sentence was all it took for you to  _ break down. _

You full-on  _ wailed _ into her shoulder, gripping onto her shirt like it was the only thing keeping you sane because it might as well  _ have _ been at this point.   
  


You cried and cried until you were simply too tired to keep your eyes open anymore.

Passing out to her hands petting your hair and back wasn’t a bad way to end the day after all the chaos that had ensued before.

_   
  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you confused? Good, you should be :3.
> 
> Also... sorry, not sorry...? I'm on a mission to break some hearts out there, don't judge me. And don't worry, things are about to calm down. Totally. 100% truth. 
> 
> Again, a lot of stuff here doesn't make sense but be patient, things will clear up eventually.
> 
> ALRIGHT, 2 THINGS!
> 
> A lot of people are probably going to say, "There is no way each reset last less than an hour" which is correct if you remember what Gaster said at the beginning of the chap. Just because each reset lasts a certain amount of time doesn't mean the main character has to be alive for that amount of time and then die right before the reset point.
> 
> NEXT!
> 
> I'm sure people are also going to say, "There is no way Chara can learn magic that quickly" which would be true if she is what y'all are thinking she is, but she's not! 
> 
> Alrighty, I think I covered just about everything. There are A LOT of hints and foreshadowing in this chapter so I suggest you go back read carefully :3
> 
> Much luv peeps! Cover in the works!


	5. Taming the Serpent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *You start to understand some things...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH IM SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!
> 
> But here it is so you can't be mad at me anymore! Pfft- but seriously sorry for taking so long, I have finally started animating so that has also been taking up my weekends now too. I am also working on a cover for this thing so a lot is going on.
> 
> Anyways enough about me, we got plot to dissect!
> 
> Now I know A LOT of you were pretty confused about what was and is going on but do not worry, I'm sure at least some of your questions will be answered in this chapter. At least, that is what I hope for. Besides that, there is nothing new so enjoy!

Your night terrors had started again.

They were worse than before, blood flying everywhere and the voices of strangers screaming in your ears.   
  


‘ **Murder.** ’ They would say.

**Failure.**

**Mistake.**

**Killer.**

**Worthless.**

**Pathetic.**

**Useless.**

**You let them die.**

**It’s all your fault.**

**They would still be alive if it wasn’t for you.**

**She wouldn’t have suffered if you were dead.**

**Just die.**

**Die.**

**Die!**

** _Die!_ **

…

You were frustrated at first, why had they come back? You had been doing so well, you had gotten better! It wasn’t fair… you thought it was over.

Why… just, why?

You knew that no matter how many times you asked that question, it would never be answered. It should be funny, how a simple, single word could cause someone so much suffering and anger.

Maybe the universe is just one big joke,

and you’re the punchline.

* * *

The next three days after the attack were torture.

You were constantly on edge, everything scared you. The underlying feeling of another time jump and the thought that if something went wrong, then there was no going back haunted you. What if you had counted wrong? What if this wasn’t the last one…

You don’t think you could kill all those men again.

The thought made you sick.

The theory of feeling even worse than you were now scared you even more. Part of you just wanted to collapse and never get up ― then again, that thought has always been there. The underlying feeling of just giving up, just letting your own grief and suffering consume you.

_ “How do you do it?” _

But…   


  
_ “I just… well, I just think that if you don’t want to, no… can’t live for yourself, then live for someone else, you know? There’s always someone out there who needs you. I mean, I thought no one needed me, but then you showed up! Kinda funny how things just work out that way, huh, Chara?” _ _   
_ _   
_

Amber was right, she needed you.

…

No, you’re not being egotistical by saying that… Amber had said it herself. She needed you and you needed her.

God, you needed them all.

James and Hannah were as much an anchor to you as Amber was.

They kept you sane for the following 3 days after the time jumps. Even if your blatant jumpiness and paranoia had gotten them all worried and constantly asking if you were okay.

Y our reply was always the same.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

…

There was a part of you that wanted to tell them, cry in their arms and spill everything.

But you just couldn’t do that to someone, couldn’t wish that upon anyone, let alone your friends! You could torture someone else with the knowledge that time had repeated itself multiple times. That it could happen again at any moment, ― despite Gaster’s message, ― with no way to stop it.

The seriousness, paranoia…

_ The  _ ** _fear... _ **

No, you couldn’t do that to them.

If it cost you your own sanity, well…

Then so be it.

  
  


* * *

_ Ah… you were back here again… _

_ Welp, it was better than the night terrors you have been having lately. _

_ Not like you wanted to see Gaster, anyway. He may have warned you about what was coming, but did he have to do it in the most cryptic way possible? _

_ You could feel the suppressed rage bubbling up to the surface again, urging you to fight, to kill, to make him pay. _

_ But you ignored it ― violence was still a last resort. You only fought when you were cornered or threatened. Despite his very existence being aggravating… he had not threatened you or your friends once, just informed. _

_ And did… whatever that thing with your eye was… _

_ You felt a shift in the  _ ** _space_ ** _ behind you. _

_ “<strike>Ah… young </strike> _ <strike> ** _Vita_ ** </strike> _ <strike>, it is nice to see you…</strike>” _

_ You didn’t turn around. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You weren’t in the mood for a friendly chat. _

_ “Tell me what you know.” _

_ … _

_ He was silent for a while. _

_ “<strike>I do not think</strike>-” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You whipped around to glare at him, teeth gritted into a snarl, eyes widening. The familiar warmth burned from behind them, fueling the boiling anger in the pit of your stomach that was centimeters from boiling over. _

_ “ _ ** _Tell. Me. What. You. Know._ ** _ ” _

_ There was no room for arguments, you needed to know what was going on. _

_ Gaster’s mouth snapped shut and his eyelights danced around in his sockets for a moment. _

_ You were about to demand answers again when he spoke up. _

_ “<strike>Do you know what the five magical elements of life are?</strike>” _

_ Anger fizzling, you looked at him questionably, “Magical?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “<strike>Yes, see, there are two types of substances, physical and magical. Physical are, for example, those of the Periodic Table: Argon, Radium, Zirconium. Substances of this nature can be seen and used by anyone. They cannot be destroyed or created. </strike> _

_ “<strike>Magical substances can be created or destroyed. They can only be used by one with the soul power to use it and can sometimes not be seen, no matter how many times you zoom in with a microscope. Are you following me so far?</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Taking a minute to mull over the information, you nodded. _

_ Gaster continued without hesitation. _

_ “<strike>Now, back to my original question ― the answer is the 5 Magical elements of life are </strike> _ <strike> ** _Water_ ** _ ,  _ ** _Earth_ ** _ ,  _ ** _Fire_ ** _ ,  _ ** _Air_ ** _ , and  _ ** _Space_ ** </strike> _ <strike>.</strike>” _

_ Ah, you have heard of those before. It was in a different context, but at least what he was saying was actually making sense. You were sure that if you asked Gaster how he was alive right now, his answer would be “magic”, since it was a substance. _

_ ...Well, 70% of the human body is literally water. Who the hell were you to judge. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “<strike>We are where most of the </strike> _ <strike> ** _Space_ ** </strike> _ <strike> is centered. As I stated in our last visit, we are in the Void.</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ That one didn’t really make any sense to you. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “What type of Space are we talking about? What and where is the Void?”  _ _   
_ _   
_

_ He seemed to think his explanation over a few times before responding. _ _   
_

_   
_ _ “Imagine a container. Let's put an apple in it for demonstration purposes. Now, if you put the lid back on, what would the empty space in the container that the apple could not fill be?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “Uhhh… air”? _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “Yes, but the molecules of air float loosely around each other, it’s what allows other substances to pass through them. What would be the space in between them that the molecules of air could not fill?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ … _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You were pretty sure your brain just short-circuited.  _

_ Was he telling you what you think he was. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “Gaster… are you saying that we are  _ ** _between_ ** _ air molecules right now?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ His eyelights sparked with amusement and he chuckled lightly, “<strike>Yes, indeed, I am</strike>.” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Your jaw dropped. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “Are we…  _ ** _beyond time and space right now_ ** _ !?” _

_ He smiled softly at you. _ _   
  
_

_ “<strike>Haha, yes. Yes, we are.</strike>” _

_ Oh holy…. _

_ “H…. how-?” _

_ “<strike>Magic, my dear!</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “ _ _ I call bullshit! There is no goddamn way! It’s magic! It’s not science, it can’t-!” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Gaster threw his head back and laughed. _

_ ”<strike>Now who said magic wasn’t science?”</strike> _ _   
  
_

_ Well, he has you there. _

_ There were a few moments of silence before he spoke again. _

_ Gaster sighed and looked at you with a face full of regret. _

_ <strike>”I am sorry, Chara, I truly am. If</strike>-” _

_ You felt your rage start to boil over again. _

_ “If you are truly sorry, you will explain to me what the hell those time jumps were and if they’re over yet.” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ He sighed again, “<strike>I cannot.</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You balked. _

_ “What do you mean you ‘can’t’?!” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “<strike>If I tell you, that means the best solution possible will not happen!</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “The hell does that mean!?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “ _ <strike> ** _IT MEANS I CANNOT!_ ** </strike> _ ” _

_ … _

_ You both stared at each other for a moment. Gaster seemed to be dripping more than usual. _

_ “<strike>If I tell you what is happening, what will happen, then we are all doomed.</strike>” _

_ … _

_ “Fine, tell me about that soul power thing you were talking about earlier.” _

_ “<strike>Chara…</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “ _ _ Tell me about soul power.” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Gaster took a deep breath,” <strike>There were once two races who ruled this world, Humans and Monsters. The Two Races broke out into a Great War and the Humans reigned victorious, sealing the remaining Monsters underground with a spell ― a barrier.</strike> _

_ “<strike>I am a Monster, and the rest of my kind is sealed under Mt. Ebott.”</strike> _

_ There was an entire race under Mt. Ebott… _

** _T_ ** ** _here was an entire race under Mt. Ebott!_ **

_ But wait… how…? _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “How were they sealed underground? Do humans have magic? Is that what that fire was? How can an entire war between two races be erased from history? What does this have to do with souls-?” _

_ He waved his disembodied hands, making you realize that you were ― again ― rapid-firing questions at him. _

_ “<strike>Slow down, I can only answer so many questions at a time! Now, going in order: Humans had magic back then, but they seem to have forgotten about their abilities, as well as the monsters’ existence over time. I believe the mages destroyed everything that proved monsters existent to let us be forgotten. Yes, the fire you had produced was your magic.</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ You blinked, ”So magical humans are called mages?” _

_ Gaster nodded, “<strike>Correct</strike>.” _

_ “Were all humans capable of magic back then?” you asked. _

_ “<strike>No, the majority of them did not have magic. They almost feared it in a way, if I remember correctly.</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Huh, that was interesting- wait! The fuck did this guy just say!? _

_ “‘Remember correctly’?! Do you mean-?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ He smiled, ”<strike>Yes, I was alive back then, all those centuries ago</strike>.” _

_ Right, okay, monsters have long lifespans… cool. You’re a little jealous right now, but cool. _

_ “ _ _ I _ _ f you ‘were’ alive back then, why are you here-?” _

_ “It is not important.” _

_ You wanted to pry, but this was different, this was none of your business. You didn’t need to learn his ‘backstory’ to try and understand any of the madness that was going on around you. _

_ But it got you thinking: were the witch trails real as in they were actually burning mages… It makes sense, Gaster did say that the humans feared them. _

_ Definitely a good idea to keep your magic a secret. _

_ “Alright, fine, just tell me about souls, please.” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ He blinked, seemingly realizing that your question was still unanswered. _

_ “<strike>Ah, yes! My apologies. Humans and Monsters all have souls. Monster souls are white and shaped like an upside down heart, while Human ones come in 10 different colors.</strike> _

<strike>_These colors stand for the main trait the human might have. Monster souls, ―_ </strike> _ <strike>white souls, ― stand for hope, peace, and compassion.</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Wait a minute… “So that glow, the azure and crimson glow that my eyes had, are those my soul colors?” _

_ Gaster nodded, “Yes, the traits and colors include green for Kindness, orange for Bravery, crimson for Determination, azure for Patience, lemon yellow for Justice, admiral for Integrity, amethyst for Perseverance, black for Hate, imperial for Guidance, and gold for Purity.” _

_ Woah… _

_ So that means your main traits are… Patience and Determination?! _

_ “You do realize that I am neither patient nor very determined when it comes to anything in my life, right?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Gaster snorted, “<strike>Just because they are your main traits, it does not mean they are all you are.</strike>” _

_ “That doesn’t answer my question….” _

_ … _

_ … _

_ “<strike>Souls are made of magic</strike>”― _ ** _Are you fucking serious?!_ ** _ ―“<strike>and while Monster bodies are also composed of magic, Human bodies are made of physical substances.</strike>” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Okay… you were less mad than you were a second ago. That did answer some of your other questions. _

_ “So… that's why I can do magic, right? It’s because I have magic in my soul.” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Gaster chuckled a bit, ”<strike>It is all starting to make sense now, yes?</strike>” _

_ You sneered. Even though he was right, you wished he would stop dancing around the stuff he “couldn’t” answer. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “Yeah, I guess. So that fire I was able to use 3 days ago... that was one of the magical elements, right? It was magical fire, not real fire, that's why it didn’t burn me?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “<strike>That is correct. It is your magic, so only you and your familiars can use it.</strike>” _

_ You were taking everything in a lot better than befor- wait. _

_ Wait just a minute. _

_ “Did you just say ‘familiars’..?” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Gaster seemed to freeze in place, realizing his slip up. His mouth opened and closed multiple times before managing to choke out an answer. _

_ “<strike>Ah… I may have… I didn't mean to… P-please just forget I said that.</strike>” _

_ … _

_ You really didn’t want to… _

_ You really wanted to punch his stupid goopy face in. _

_ But if what he said earlier is true, and it was indeed going to fuck everything up... _

_ Gahhhhhhhhhhhhh... _

_ “Fine, sure, whatever. I’ll let you off easy. Besides, I’m honestly too tired to be angry at this point.” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ Gaster let out a sigh of, it seemed, pure relief, and you heaved one of frustration.  _

_ This whole information dump thing was tiring you out. You just wanted to get some actual sleep. No night terrors, no… whatever this is. _

_ Maybe all you needed was just some explaining, maybe you’ll sleep better now. _

_ There was a tug in your chest and you winced, what-? _

_ “<strike>Do not fear, you are just waking up. It seems that our talk must come to an end.</strike>” _

_ You narrowed your eyes at Gaster. _

_ “You still have a lot of explaining to do.” _ _   
_ _   
_

_ He sighed, then nodded, “<strike>Yes, I do. Perhaps you can figure the rest out on your own.</strike>” _

_ Okay, you were starting to get pissed again. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “Ummm, how?!” _

_ Gaster laughed as your vision started to fill with black. _ _   
_ _   
_

_ “<strike>Why, the internet, of course. There is a reason I call you </strike> _ <strike> ** _Vita,_ ** </strike> _ <strike> after all.</strike>” _

_ … _

_ … _

_ … _

_ … _

_ … _

Meaning of the word ' **vita** ',  **Latin** : life.

  
  


…

  
  


What…

He…

_ ‘Now, back to my original question ― the answer is the 5 Magical Elements of Life are  _ ** _Water_ ** _ ,  _ ** _Earth_ ** _ ,  _ ** _Fire_ ** _ ,  _ ** _Air_ ** _ , and  _ ** _Space_ ** _ .’ _

  
  


Oh, holy shit….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaster: :)
> 
> Chara: Tell me what you know.
> 
> Gaster: :)
> 
> Chara: Fucking tell me what you know!!
> 
> Gaster:
> 
> Gaster: :)
> 
> Chara: GAHHHHHHHHH FUC-
> 
> *Snickers* This was way to much fun to write xD.


	6. A Detachable Tail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *All those broken pieces...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH I'M SORRY, PLZ FORGIVE ME! 
> 
> I got way too caught up in animating last weekend and I just forgot and was like oh... fuck.
> 
> But here it is!
> 
> Also if you wish to see my youtube channel link is below! I will be posting speed-paints of covers and animations containing some plot so if your interested come check it out!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUK6-44JB8i5HLE7GVZyJEA?view_as=subscriber
> 
> Enjoy! <3

Why did you do this to yourself?

You could have waited, could have had a nice breakfast with Amber since you woke up early, could have spent the day chilling on the couch, could have had a nice movie night to wrap up the day.

But no, you just couldn’t wait to search up the word that Gaster was using to refer to you.

Now you were going to be stuck thinking about it the whole goddamn day.

Great job, Chara, A plus, glad to start the day on a high note.

You sighed, leaning back flat on your bed. Your phone had been on the nightstand, thankfully, letting you stay in your nest of blankets and pillows. Small blessings, really, but those were some of the things that kept you sane these past couple of days.

You could hear Amber walking through the house and making breakfast in the kitchen. Your mind wanted to get up and join her, yet your body didn't.

She wasn’t leaving for work for another hour… you could just lay here for a little bit. Just 5 mins, just a nice 5 minutes of relaxing in bed. Fuck Gaster, if he wants to be vague and not tell you the full story, then you’ll just ignore the pieces until he decides to put them together for you.

The board hadn’t even been put together, and you were already tired of playing his games.

Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes, already feeling the gentle tugs of sleep on your mind-

** _*SLAM*_ **

** _“RISE AND SHINE!”_ **

_“_ _SHIT!”_

You flew a whole 2 feet into the air and off the side of your bed―blankets and all―as Amber kicked the door open, loudly announcing her arrival in your safe haven of a room.

Landing on the ground with a dull thud, you let your blankets fall on top of you with a groan.

“Come on, up and at ‘em! You said you would have breakfast with me this morning!”   


  
You did, didn’t you…

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck...

You groaned, “Just let me dieeeeee.”

There's a giggle above you.

”Come on, Chara… it's not even that early! It's literally 8.”

8 AM…

Why did you agree to this again?

Curling into the blankets more in hopes of falling back asleep, you mumbled curses under your breath.

You heard Amber sigh as her footsteps lead away from you. Curious,—what evil deed could she be planning?—you poked your head out in case of an emergency escape being needed.

She has thrown a bucket of ice water on you before, and you were not going to relive that experience.

You only got a millisecond to look around and see her form by the window before she threw the blinds open, a cascade of light overflowing the room and your poor eyes as you squeaked and turtled back into your nest.

“It's not that early! The sun is up!

“And what do you want me to do, photosynthesis?”

…

Amber started wheezing so badly you would think someone was strangling her. You sat up, your eyes adjusting to the light to see her struggling to stay standing, hands clasped around her stomach.

You raised an eyebrow at her position, now more interested in the direction in which the conversation was going than going back to sleep.

“Holy cow, are you okay? It wasn’t even that funny.”

As the last words of your input/question left your mouth, Amber started to cackle, hitting the floor and giving in to her struggle to stay up right.

Welp…

She did warn you about this.

When you first met, she had told you that in the early mornings and late nights she would get these intense giggle fits. Laughing at almost anything someone said or did—it didn’t even have to be funny: she would just start laughing like she had heard the best joke in her life.

The first time it happened was when you were both watching a movie at around 11 pm when you sneezed mid drink. You were about to say something along the lines of ‘ah shit’ when she just started laughing hysterically. You stared at her with a confused ‘u ok mate?’ look that apparently just made her laugh harder. It took at least 10 mins for her to calm down, but even after that she still giggled at the most random things the whole night until she passed out.

Which lead you back to now.

Chuckling under your breath, you looked down at her expectedly, “You okay now?”

She giggled again, sitting up and wiping the tears from her eyes, “Oh man, yeah, I’m… I’m okay now.”

You stood up and held a hand to help her up, “You sure?”

She took your hand and pulled at it, fixing her shorts and smiling up at you afterwards.

“Yeah, I’m good. Now, are you coming for breakfast or what?”

* * *

Breakfast with Amber was nice. A great way to make up for the revelation of Gaster’s hints in your dreams.

Once she had left for work, though, the doubts, thoughts, and fears came crawling back to you like hyenas swarming a rotting carcass. 

After a good 2 hours of thinking you had had enough. Sitting here wasn’t going to solve anything, you needed to clear your head. You needed…

Hiking…

Yeah, you needed to go hiking.

Throwing some shoes on and putting on your hoodie to hide your scars, you went upstairs to fetch Midnight.

He enjoyed sitting on your shoulder when you both went out, his front claws gripping the front of your clothes and his back half hanging off your shoulder behind you, hind legs gripping the back of your shirt (or hoodie in this case), tail hanging a bit to the side.

The perfect position for taking in heat from the sun above and heat from your body below.

Leaning down, you opened the enclosure, the sliding doors alerting him to your presence as he crawled out of his cool hide. 

“Hey, bud,” You greeted the lizard, patting your leg. “Wanna go out for a walk?”

Midnight sauntered out of his enclosure and onto your leg, immediately trying to climb up your hoodie and get in his favorite position.

“Alright, alright, hold on, bud. Let me help you out here.” You barked out a laugh at his futile attempts and proceeded to help him up. The familiar sense of his long claws poking through your clothes and touching your skin felt reassuring in a way.

Standing up, you felt him press his face into your neck, gratefully absorbing the heat from your warm body.

You smiled on your way back — down the stairs and out of the door.

“We need to do this more often.”

* * *

_ You didn’t hear it at first, but the closer you got, the more apparent the noise became. _

_ Someone was crying. It sounded like it was a woman. _

_ A woman was crying in an alleyway at 1:34 in the morning. _

_ It was like a switch was flipped. _

_ There had always been an unspoken code among women. Whether it was fashion tips, relationship advice (the good and the bad), and, most importantly, the nighttime. _

_ If you saw another girl walking alone, walk with her. _

_ If you saw another girl who was drunkenly trying to get home, help her. _

_ If you saw another girl trying to be lured away by men, step in. _

_ If you saw another girl sleeping on a bench, wake her up and let her sleep at your place. _

_ If you heard a girl crying, talk to her and get her home. _

_ You had never feared the night—after walking home in the dark so many times, the low visibility didn't bother you. The night brought a sense of calmness, like the darkness was trying to smother you in a warm hug. _

_ You felt comfortable—not completely safe, but comfortable. _

_ However, the depressing sobs sent a chill down your spine. _

_ Running to get there before someone else could, you passed a couple more openings before you found the right one. Making a sharp turn, you slowed back down to a walk so as not to scare the poor girl into thinking you had  _ ** _other_ ** _ intentions. _

_ Your eyes widened at the girl before you. _

_ She just looked so… young. _

_ Her brown hair was covering her face that was buried into her knees, her frame shaking with each sob, and her nails digging into her arms hard enough to draw blood. _

_ You walked forward slowly, making sure to make your footsteps loud so that you didn't frighten her. _

_ It wasn’t until you were right in front of her that she snapped up her head in alarm, teeth gritted in unleashed anger and pain. _

_ Her amber eyes stared up at you with apprehension and a spark of hope. _

_ You held your hand out. _

_ “Hey… let's get you outta here, okay?” _

* * *

  
  
  


_ Have you been paying attention to the pieces? _

_ The broken glass had been laid across the plane for you. _

_ Broken fragments of a timeline continuously cracking, splitting. _

_ Many have tried countless times. _

_ Yet, they always fail. _

_ Some discover for the sake of discovering. _

_ Some play, no, destroy for the sake of destroying. _

_ Some fix for the sake of fixing. _

_ Yet it was already broken, has been broken for too long. _

_ Some searched for a solution. _

_ For a glue. _

_ Yet they never found it. _

_ … _

_ … _

_ ... _

_ But I have. _

_ I have found the glue. _

_ And I will not fail to fix it. _

_ Not this time. _

_ … _

_ I have grown too attached to give up now. _

_ So I will ask again. _

_ Have you been paying attention to the pieces? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you been reading in between the lines?


	7. Heat Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Climbing higher...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHOS BACK?! Y'ALL THOUGHT I ABANDONED YOU DIDN'T YOU?
> 
> Oh lord, that was a very unplanned but needed break. Sorry I ghosted on you guys, hopefully, that won't happen again.
> 
> But on to more important things, I have an editor!  
She's super nice and just an all-around pleasant person to talk too. She is literally my best friend now and I honestly don't know what I would do without her at this point because my grammar sucks! 
> 
> So everyone say thank you to Shiny_Patience!
> 
> But yeah moving on enjoy the new chapter!

_ Alternate Cover Idea: _

Just thought I'd share some extra artwork.

* * *

The crunch of leaves and small twigs under your sneakered feet was somewhat soothing to your busy mind. The sway of the grass, trees, and other various plants around you highlighted the breeze that had settled in about 10 minutes into your hike. You never liked wearing short-sleeved shirts outside, but the cool breeze reinforced your reasons for wearing your hoodie.

There was something so calming about walking through these woods and up the mountain, it never failed to soothe the deep ache that had settled in your heart.

Well… your soul, to be precise.

Your conversations with Gaster rose to the surface of your mind again, no matter how hard you tried to push them away.

There was a goddamn race of monsters under this mountain, and you had no idea what to do with that information.

A small part of you just wanted to ignore it, pretend like it didn’t exist. It didn’t seem like there was anything you could do about it, so why worry? There was no use in moping about something you couldn’t control.

Yet the issue with that statement, other than being morally wrong, was that you didn’t know for sure that you couldn't do anything about it.

Gaster never said anything about you not being able to do anything. If you remember correctly, the conversation got directed more towards souls and magic, and you had woken up before you could properly ask about his race.

Another part of you wanted to do something, help them in some way. This wasn’t something that you could just ignore, this would change everything!  
  


An entire race of people stuck under a mountain and you're the only human that knows about it. 

It's not like you could tell someone about it—who would even believe you? If someone walked up to you and told you the same thing, you would have laughed in their face! Sure, you could tell Amber but even, _ even _ if she believed you somehow, what could she do about it?

Finding an entrance into the mountain seemed pointless as well. If they were stuck down there, then there obviously wouldn’t be a way to enter the mountain. 

Then again, what did you know, Gaster said they were sealed down there by a spell—a barrier, if you remembered correctly. So then maybe there was an opening somewhere, but the so-called ‘barrier’ prevented them from leaving?

Gahhh, this was so frustrating! 

Why couldn’t anything in your life be simple?!

You blew a sigh from your mouth into the mountain air, feeling Midnight readjust himself on your shoulder. The feeling of scales against skin calmed your raging mind for a moment as your attention shifted to the mass of black and white. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m overthinking everything again, as usual.”

Midnight turned his head to stare at you for a moment, blinking every so often. He seemed thoroughly interested in your face. There was an odd second of eye contact before he looked away, glancing at the slim opening between your white tank top and dark blue hoodie, then looking once more at you.

Ah, you knew exactly where this was going. 

“Midnight…” You narrowed your eyes warily. “Don’t you do it, don’t you fucking dare.”  
  


A moment of silence.

Before he dove under your sweatshirt, claws latching onto your stomach and chest, tearing well through your tank top as Midnight struggled to position himself under your sweatshirt.

“Ah! Shit, Midnight, that hurts, goddammit! You bag of scales!”  
  


It took a minute of clawing on his part and a bit of cursing on yours before the mass under your clothes had finally stopped moving.

You took a minute to mourn the loss of another tank top, noting the feeling of warm liquid dripping down your chest and stomach. Looking down in mild irritation with a touch of amusement at the collar of your hoodie, you couldn’t help but chuckle a little as Midnight’s nose creeped out, tongue flicking every so often.

Raising an eyebrow, you scratched the tip of his nose, humming. As the rest of his face snaked out, you moved your scratching to the rest of Midnight’s head. He leaned into your hand, eyes closing at the sensation before returning to the depths of your sweatshirt.

You snorted at his behavior, remembering that the last time he did this, you spent a good 3 minutes trying to get him out of Amber’s jacket. 

“Pfft— comfortable now? Ugh, you're lucky you're adorable.”

Sighing at the somewhat pleasant interruption, you continued your hike up the mountain and, begrudgingly, your thought process on what you were going to do about this whole monster thing.

Your brows furrowed in concentration. If the barrier was made by a mage, then it could be broken by one, right? That seemed plausible, yet even then, _ how _would you even break it?

What were you gonna do? Throw a bunch of fireballs at it?!

You put your hands on your head and groaned. God, this was so stupid!

Even if you found an entrance, maybe there was a chance that the barrier was just meant to keep things _ in _ but not _ out _. So even if you could go through, what were you going to do? Just throw yourself down there and hope everything works out?!

Ha! ‘Cause that didn’t seem like a bad idea at all!

You started to feel a spike in the air around you, a sort of fizz that made your skin tingle and hair stand on end.

It startled you for a moment, before a familiar warmth made itself known. _ ‘Ah,’ _ you thought to yourself. _ ‘My magic must be acting up to my frustration.’ _

Taking deep breaths, you focused on what's around you—the plant life, the noise of rocks and leaves crunching under your feet, Midnight's heartbeat and breathing against your chest.

You could feel your mind relax from the frustration that had been gripping it, but even then, the fizz around you didn’t disappear.

It did the opposite… it got _ worse _.

You stumbled to a stop, the feeling of fear slowly starting to take hold as you realized that..

This wasn’t…

**This wasn’t you.**

The fizz started to turn painful faster than your mind could catch up to your revelation, the fear turning to panic as it started to feel as if pins and needles were stabbing your skin.

Your head whipped around, trying to find the source of whatever was happening, the air seeming to shake and spasm like an earthquake, only instead of the ground being affected, it’s the air.

You’d question if this was even real at all if it weren’t for the fact that Midnight seemed to be feeling it too. 

His claws gripped your skin as he was slightly shaking under the hide he’d made out of your clothes. The lizard didn’t make any move to flee, instead just gripping onto you in fear and confusion, deeming staying with you the safer option.

You silently thanked Midnight for his wise decision. You didn’t know what you’d do if he ran off in a blind panic.

Leaning against a tree to keep yourself standing, you gripped your head in pain, the world around you seemingly becoming too much for your brain to handle. Though at the same time, it felt like every sense had gone into hyperdrive. 

Your ears started to ring, and that combined with the air _ shaking _ made you want to pass out.

Then it started to slow, like some sort of pressure was holding it down. The pins and needles feeling was replaced by what could almost be described as a thin blanket that covered you completely. 

You carefully moved to stand on your own again, removing a hand from your aching head and looking around in confusion.

_ What on earth was that? _

Scanning the forest around you, you secretly hoped that the cause of… _ whatever that was _ would magically (ha, _ ‘magically’ _) decide to show itself.

Yet there was _ nothing. _

Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath—

—_ and then the air exploded. _

It felt like you were in, and yet, surrounded by multiple explosions all happening at once. The static fizz slammed into you so unnaturally that your body didn’t know what to do with itself besides falling backwards from the sheer shock of it.

Midnight seemed to have a similar reaction of panic, claws scrambling for purchase, all but shredding your tank and the skin underneath.

Feeling your head bounce off the ground seemed to snap you out of your trance more than the stinging pain on your stomach. You tensed your arms in an attempt to push yourself up against the torrent of static and entropy—

—for it all to stop like nothing.

For a moment you just sat there, waiting for something else to happen—waiting for another, more intense burst to occur.

One minute, two minutes, three... you thought you might have blacked out for a moment from the nausea and sheer amount of adrenaline that shot through you in such a short period of time.

Sitting up slowly, you took stock of your surroundings, and... it was like nothing happened.

…

_ What the fuck!? _

What the hell was that?

Slowly, you managed to push yourself up. Your legs wobbled like jelly, but you managed to stand on them nonetheless.

Midnight seemed to be having an internal panic attack. He wasn’t shaking anymore, but his fast breaths and increased heartbeat gave him away.

You knew touching him right now would be a bad move, so you stood still to give him time to calm down. Which, in turn, would give you time to think about what the fuck just happened.

It was magic, that much was obvious, but what alarmed you the most was that it wasn’t _ your _magic.

It had been something else.

_ Someone _ else.

And that someone was close to you.

The first thought was fear, the same fear that had driven you to kill at the beginning and that still somewhat drives you forward now.

Then there were the more logical feelings that ran through your head—confusion, curiosity, slight wonder, and, most of all, doubt.

That had been air magic,—maybe space, but you wouldn’t bet on it,—and even though you’d seemed to be _ right in the middle _ of it, nothing really happened to you.

Sure, you were a little disoriented, but otherwise you hadn’t been physically harmed.

Maybe it wasn't someone, it could have just been a fluke or something, since there was natural magic just kinda… there.

Either those two options or you were just finally losing your mind.

Wait.

…could you have actually been hallucinating?

Midnight could have just been reacting to your panic instead of what might have or might not have been going on around you.

Oh shit, have you actually lost your sanity?  
  


Wait—  
  
****

**3:26 PM Today** **  
**

You 

hey ab, u got a min?

  
  


** 3:27 PM Today**

Amber 

yeah! whats up?

  
  


Oh wow, that was faster than you expected.

  
  


**3:27 PM Today**

You 

did u feel that? like… just now?

  
  


** 3:27 PM Today**

Amber 

oh god

what did u do?

Of course…

  
  
  


**3:28 PM Today**

You 

just answer the question!

btw i didn’t do squat!

**   
**   
  


** 3:28 PM Today**

Amber 

uhhhh… no?

was i supposed to?_  
  
_

  
  


Ah, great.

  
  
  


**3:28 PM Today**

You 

huh

welp

** 3:28 PM Today**

Amber 

uh... chara?

should i be worried??

  
  
  


**3:28 PM Today**

You 

possibly

  
  
  
  
  


** 3:29 PM Today**

Amber 

0-0

r u okay?!?

  
  
  


**3:29 PM Today**

You 

nope

think i might be going crazy

or dying

  
  


** 3:29 PM Today**

Amber 

oof welp

good luck with that ;)

  
  


…

WHAT.

  
  
  


**3:30 PM Today**

You 

AMBER

  
  
  


** 3:30 PM Today**

Amber 

yes, thats my name :p

  
  
  


**3:30 PM Today**

You 

WAIT

PLZ NO

  
  


** 3:30 PM Today**

Amber 

gotta work! 

luv you!

;3

  
  
  


**3:31 PM Today**

You 

BISH

YOU COME BACK HERE RN YOUNG LADY

…

AMBER

  
  
  
  
  


…

  
  


_ That little piece of—! _

Despite the mad facade you had put on, you couldn’t keep in the soft breaths of laughter that left your mouth. 

Even so, your mood quickly soured.

Amber’s response had all but confirmed your suspicions, yet you still tried to deny it.

_ Maybe it was just a radius thing, she could have been too far from the blast to feel it. _

_ Maybe it’s a magic thing, and since you're a mage, only you could feel it. _

_ Maybe— _

“Oh, HELLO, HUMAN!”

You choked on your own spit, startled by the loud voice from behind you. You turned in its direction, about to respond when you felt your heart stop.

_ There was someone else on the mountain. _

All too suddenly the possibility of the magic belonging to someone resurfaced in your mind. You wanted to run, you should run, but…

They could be someone else like you, and maybe they could explain what the hell was going on—

_ Wait. _

_ Did they just call me ‘human’? _

_ Why would anyone call someone else that unless they weren’t… _

…

You turned around and felt Midnight swing a little bit from how fast you did it, but you knew that, after _ that _, there was no way he would be coming off any time soon.

There was a rustle in the bushes in front of you. A figure emerged from the thicket, and…

...you didn’t breathe.

It was a skeleton.

No… it was a Monster, one of Gaster’s kind.

The skeleton was about a couple inches taller than you, though you were pretty tall yourself (5’9”), so, for a normal human, this guy was probably a couple heads taller.  
  


He (you thought) was wearing some kind of armor, though it didn’t look very strong. The chest piece was white and almost like a ball around his ribcage, leaving the skeleton’s lower spine exposed. The shoulder pieces were balls as well, and were accented with a band of gold where they met his humerus. He wore cyan-colored shorts that just about covered his pelvis and boots of red accented with gold straps. A bright red scarf was wrapped around his neck. It rustled with every breeze and was that same red painted on his gloves that he had proudly placed upon his hips.

The skeleton's skull was nothing like Gaster’s, and more like that of an actual human skull, though it was still modified, you would say. His eye sockets were small and dark, but they held a unique shine to them that gave life to his face. That and the fact that he wore a smile that almost blinded you with how bright it was.

He looked at you as if he was expecting you to say something, and you realized that, in your analysis, you had completely zoned out and missed literally everything he said.

Oops. 

You opened your mouth to speak, but the skeleton beat you to it.  
  


“Ah, it seems that you were too busy basking in my greatness and did not hear my greeting! Don’t worry, human, I shall repeat it for you!”

His voice was loud, but not in a screaming way—it was at the same level Amber's voice got when she was overly excited about something. It startled you a little bit, sure, but it wasn’t scary or too overwhelming. You felt Midnight flinch slightly under your hoodie, he always hated loud noises.

The skeleton held out his hand and somehow managed to smile even wider.  
  


“Hello, human! My name is The Great Papyrus and it is absolutely WONDERFUL to meet you! What is your name? I have to apologize for startling you, though, as I have never seen an adult human before and got VERY excited to introduce myself!”

Okay, that had to be the nicest way someone has introduced themselves to you in a really long time.  
  


You smiled and let out a small laugh as you took his hand.  
  


“No, don’t apologize! It’s fine! You just caught me a little off-guard, since usually there aren’t any people up here when I go hiking. My name is Chara, and it's nice to meet you too, The Great Papyrus.”

The handshake ended as Papyrus tilted his chin up with a proud laugh of his own.

“Nyeh heh heh! Why, you can just call me ‘Papyrus,’ tall human! NOW, onto much more SERIOUS things! I assume you have lots of questions?”  
  


You shoved your hands back into your pockets and gave Papyrus a tired smile.

“Like you wouldn’t believe...”

He just smiled brightly at you.  
  


“Well, you're in luck, I have the answers you're looking for! Probably. SO, ask away, Tall Human!”

Might as well ask the questions you actually want to know that answer to first.

You took a deep breath, “I don’t mean to be rude, but, um… what are you? And, uh, how are you… um, here?”

Papyrus shook his hands at you.

“No, that was not rude AT ALL! I assumed that humans would not know what we are after seeing Tiny Human’s reaction to my greatness!” He placed a hand on his chest. “I am a monster, and my race and I have finally made it to the surface with Tiny Human’s help!”  
  


You raised an eyebrow.

“‘Tiny Human’?”  
  


“Why yes! Frisk had fallen underground just 4 days ago and befriended all of Monsters in their travels across the Underground! Me being their GREATEST FRIEND, of course!”

“And you're on the surface because of them?”

“You would be correct! They just broke the Barrier, and while the others were discussing what to do, I decided to come and introduce myself to the humans! THOUGH I did not think I would find one THIS quickly.”

Wait, back up for a second.

  
“Hold on, you're saying that this ‘Frisk’—a child, by the sound of things—broke the Barrier?!”

“WHY YES! It was VERY impressive!”

Huh… you were going to have to have a talk with this kid, mainly for the fact that they wandered up a mountain and fell into it.  
  


_ Kids… _

On another note… the barrier breaking, could that have been what the weird air bursting thing was?

But then… what, a barrier classified as air magic? Was it really space? Or was the air just being affected by the fact that a giant ass barrier was breaking?

You wanted to ask, but letting another monster know you were a mage did not seem like a good idea in the slightest.

“Hah! Sounds like it. So, uh... how many of you are going to be coming out of this mountain? Because we’re gonna have to somehow—”

“PAPYRUS, WAIT UP! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?”

Yay, another loud talker. If Midnight hadn’t hated you already for bringing him into this disaster, he sure did hate you now.

Papyrus noticed your slight uncertainty at the new voice.  
  


“Oh, don’t worry, Tall Human, that is just one of my friends! I assumed she would be the first to catch up, there is no need to feel scared!”  
  


He patted your head with his gloved hand and you laughed at the action.  
  


“Hah! Me? Scared! Nah, I'm not scared of anything!” You retorted with a playful smile.

Papyrus copied the motion and patted your shoulder this time.

“I have a great feeling you two will be the BEST of FRIENDS!” 

You smiled wider at his observation and covered your ears as Papyrus let out a loud, booming “I AM OVER HERE, UNDYNE! COME QUICKLY, I HAVE FOUND A HUMAN FRIEND!”

Yep, Midnight definitely hated you now.

  
There was barely a second of silence before the gruff female voice yelled back.

“HOLY SHIT, REALLY? YOU FOUND ONE? DON’T MOVE, I'M COMING!”

Papyrus let out a quiet ‘Nyeh heh heh’ before responding.

“THAT IS VERY OBVIOUS, UNDYNE, YOUR FOOTSTEPS ARE GETTING LOUDER BY THE SECOND!”

Moments after Papyrus’ snarky statement a figure comes crashing through the foliage, and—

_ Holy shit, you wish you were lesbian. _

She looked to be a fish monster, just a couple inches taller than you, like Papyrus, although the only thing that made her different from the typical human form were her scales and face.

Her scales were a deep azure blue that contrasted her bright red hair beautifully. The hair had been put up into a ponytail. On the side of her head were fins that sported that same deep azure of her scales and bright red of her hair. Undyne’s eye was cat-like, a yellow sclera with a black vertical slit for a pupil. She had no nose, but her mouth was filled with shark-like teeth, all tinted slightly yellow.

Undyne was wearing a black tank top and blue jeans with red boots that folded over themselves at the top. The use of a tank top showing off her muscles made you stare a little longer in awe and jealousy than needed.

_ … _

_ You took note that she was missing her left eye, or, at least, you could assume so by the black eye patch covering it. _

_ A pang of something deep inside made itself known in your chest and you pushed it down. _

_ No. _

_ Not now, not ever. _

_ ... _

Undyne smiled wide at your prolonged stare.

“_ Fuhuhu _, you like what you see, nerd? Alphys does too.”

“UNDYNE!”

You sputtered indefinitely, trying to cover up your obvious slipup. God, you could _ feel _ the blush taking over your face!

“Ah, I’m sorry! I’m still getting used to this whole monster thing! I didn’t mean to stare—!”

She threw her head back in a roaring laugh as you saw Papyrus grumble and rub his face out of the corner of your eye.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, punk! I’m just messing with you!” 

She held out her webbed hand. You noticed that her nails were black and pointed.

“I’m Undyne! Nice to meet you, human! Thanks for giving us a chance. I know if I was a human and I saw someone as scary as me come up, I’d be throwing punches pretty fast!”

You took her hand and laughed at the notion of fighting someone as strong as her.  
  


“Chara, nice to meet you too. And it's no problem, really, but I gotta say, I’m always up for a good fight.”

Her eye lit up.

“Oh ho ho! Are you offering? I might just have to take you up on that! Wouldn’t want to miss an opportunity to pummel someone into the ground.”

“Oh, I don’t think it's me that will be hitting the ground first.”  
  


You heard a quiet “Oh stars” in the background, but you ignored it as Undyne’s face leaned in closer to meet yours.

You both smiled dangerously at each other.

“Is that a challenge?”

You chuckled.  
  


“It's a promise.”

…

“ALRIGHT, MOVING ON TO MORE IMPORTANT THINGS.”

You both jumped a little bit at Papyrus’ voice, having forgotten he was there. He quickly made himself known as he pulled both of you apart.

He moved to stand next to Undyne and patted her shoulder.

“As I’m sure you are aware, this is Undyne! She’s the Captain of the Royal Guard, and, as I told you earlier, my BEST FRIEND!”

The coil in your chest churned excitedly at the thought of fighting the Captain of a Royal Guard, but you made sure to not let it show on your face.

“So, punk, I’m curious, how’d you get those scars on your face?”  
  


“UNDYNE!”  
  


…

_ Yep. Thereeeeee it is. _

“What? I wanna know! That’s some anime shit right there on her face, and there is definitely an awesome story to go along with it!”

“That may be true, BUT it is VERY rude to ask someone that!”

You watched as Papyrus and Undyne went back and forth on the topic of your scars. You should’ve been annoyed, but there was a playful air between the three of you, so you couldn’t help but play along.

“Alright, guys, you can stop. Even though Papyrus is right—” “Yes, thank you, Tall Human!” “— I’m gonna give you a pass because of the mutual understanding we have.” 

You nodded to her eyepatch, and she stilled for a moment before blushing a little and sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck, a guilty smile spreading across her face.

“Heh, yeah. You’re right. I forget sometimes that some people see their scars differently and that not everyone is proud of them. Sorry, nerd.”

You heard Papyrus mumble an ‘As you should be.’ while crossing his arms in the background and almost snorted at his side comment. You only held back not to embarrass the fish monster further. 

You punched her shoulder, “Stop that! I said it’s fine, didn’t I! No hard feelings.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but you cut her off.  
  


“Plus, if we weren’t on good terms, that means I wouldn’t be able to go easy on you as I planned for our fight.”

Papyrus snorted into his hand as Undyne pulled you in a chokehold, and then proceeded to noogie you, your hair spilling everywhere and you squawking at the action.

“_Fuhuhu,_ that's some ballsy shit right there, punk! You know what, you're not half bad, human. We're gonna have some fun up here with you around!”

“While I do NOT agree with her aggressive affectionate methods, UNDYNE IS RIGHT! I am very excited to have a new friend around!”

You laughed and struggled in Undyne’s hold until she let you go. You felt Midnight shuffle at the sudden movement, but otherwise he didn’t complain.

_ Did he fall asleep? It’s happened before… _

Blushing because of the monster’s words, you waved a hand at them.  
  


“Heh, thanks, guys, really appreciate it.”

Papyrus beamed.

“Think NOTHING of it, Tall Human! We are just very glad to have met you!”  
  


There was a small pause before Undyne spoke up.

“Alright, enough with the sappy talk! Time for the juicy stuff!”

Undyne wrapped an arm around your shoulder and pulled you in so you were leaning into her.

“You said you were cool with the scar stuff, right? So SPILL!”

“Undyne...”  
  


“What? Chara said she was cool with it!”  
  


You waved your hand at Papyrus. 

“I appreciate you coming to my defense, Papyrus, but it's fine. It isn't that big of a deal, promise.”  
  


He narrowed his eye sockets at you, but didn't say otherwise.

“HELL YES! Now come on, I’m getting impatient here!”

Something told you that you were going to regret this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chara: So what your saying... is that I'm supposed to fall down into the mountain.  
Fandom: Yep  
Chara:  
Chara: Bro I may be stupid but I'm not that dumb.
> 
> Ahaha, so many people thought Chara was gonna fall underground and I literally just sat there laughing my but off. God being an author is hilarious.
> 
> Moving on, sry if Paps is to out character, he is going to be a little different from the game version just because that's how I see him but I want to get the rest of his character right. I'm sure a lot of people are going to question why Paps is correcting Undyne's language but trust me, that will be addressed soon! Also, Undyne is way to fun to write.
> 
> But yeah that's it, see you!


End file.
